Updates
April 3, 2013: ND legislature looking at stripper well loophole:
To encourage investment in oil development, the Legislature many years ago exempted stripper wells — those producing less than 30 barrels of oil a day — from the state extraction tax.
However, the exemption applies to an entire production spacing unit, and since the boom, some high-producing Bakken wells in the same unit that has a stripper well have escaped the extraction tax.
For at least two sessions, legislators have talked about closing the loophole, and this year Cook included stripper well changes as part of a comprehensive oil tax reform bill. It was killed in the House, largely due to a controversial plan to lower the oil extraction tax.
By combining the stripper well changes with oil tax changes, he was able to make the bill “revenue neutral.”
Original Post
Very, very good article; a must read.
