FAIRMONT — West Virginia has experienced a considerable increase in its oil and gas severance tax payments.
The West Virginia State Treasurer’s office recently reported that these annual payments to counties and municipalities throughout the state went up 16.1 percent to $8.3 million over the past fiscal year, ending June 2009.
Under state law, the tax commissioner collects the oil and gas severance tax and deposits part of the money into a fund in the treasurer’s office to benefit counties and municipalities in West Virginia. Treasurer John Perdue is responsible for holding the money in the revenue account and dispersing it, said Greg Stone, spokesman for the treasurer.
“After it’s been collected, 10 percent (of total oil and gas severance taxes) goes to counties and cities, some based on what you actually produce and some based purely on population,” he said.
He explained that 75 percent of that total distribution goes to the counties that actually produce the oil and gas. In 2009, nearly $6.3 million was distributed to oil and gas producing counties in West Virginia, compared to about $5.4 million the previous year. This year, Marion County received $120,125.14.
The remaining 25 percent of that total distribution goes to all counties and municipalities based on census population, Stone said. This year, approximately $744,000 went to municipalities in the state and more than $1.3 million went to counties. Those numbers were around $641,000 and $1.2 million, respectively, last year.
Of the money set aside based on population, Marion County got $31,066.35 in 2009.
“Natural resources represent the economic drivers for our counties and our municipalities throughout West Virginia,” Perdue said in a press release. “My office works diligently to get these funds quickly transferred to local officials so they can go about serving their constituents.”
The West Virginia Oil and Natural Gas Association, established in 1915, serves all facets of the industry, from large and small producers to distribution companies. Corky DeMarco, executive director, said the association is the largest oil and gas association in the state in the amount of production it represents, which is 70 percent.
The organization, with 80 to 90 company members, represents 12,000 miles of pipeline in the state of West Virginia and more than 300,000 individual households that use natural gas, he said.
Like the country, West Virginia’s oil and gas business has slowed a little bit in production because national gas prices are down from eight or 10 months ago, DeMarco said. But the industry is still doing well.
“West Virginia is sitting geographically closest to the largest market, which is Northeast,” he said. “Our future is extremely bright. We’re too valuable to the economic and the securitization of energy to not be a major producer.”
DeMarco said West Virginia, which is experiencing the 150th anniversary of its first gas wells, produces in the top three or four states in the country in natural gas.
“Unlike the Southwest and some other places where they may produce more over a short period of time, the Appalachian production basin is long and steady,” he said.
The Independent Oil and Gas Association of West Virginia is a 500-member trade association of oil and gas producers and the industry that serves those producers, executive director Charlie Burd said. It advocates for issues involving oil and gas drilling, energy and tax.
He said the oil and gas industry in the state has slowed because of access to capital.
“The industry is going through the same recession that the rest of the country is,” Burd said. “The price of natural gas has dropped. The price drop is directly in correlation to the rest of the industry.
“Most of those independent producers rely on investors to fund those drilling programs, and that’s where there’s a lack of capital access.”
Last year, the industry provided $80 million in severance taxes alone to the state of West Virginia, he said. Capital investments, employment, property taxes and fuel taxes bring hundreds of millions of dollars to the state.
Visit the State Treasurer’s Office Web site at www.wvsto.com.
E-mail Jessica Legge at jlegge@timeswv.com.
Business
Resources ‘economic drivers’
Oil and gas severance tax payments up by 16.1 percent
- Business
-
-
Online convenience
This tax season, the West Virginia State Tax Department is helping people understand the benefits of filing online and making them aware of the tax credits available.
“There’s a really good chance that people can save money ... and a bonus is you’ll get your refund a lot quicker,” Danny Forinash, public information officer for the State Tax Department, said of e-filing. -
J’s Supper Club: Fine dining, beautiful place
J’s Supper Club offers fine dining in an intimate atmosphere.
Business partners Janet Thompson and Janie Kerrigan opened the establishment in Fairmont at 1523 Mary Lou Retton Drive, across from the Armory, at the beginning of November. -
‘Almost like Cinderella’
When Morgantown business owner Diane Lewis was given the chance to attend the State of the Union address, “it was almost like Cinderella and being invited to the ball,” she said.
-
Dan Cava’s Used Cars opens in White Hall
Dan Cava’s Used Cars invites everyone to stop by and see its selection of quality, pre-owned vehicles.
This used car lot opened for business about a week ago in White Hall along U.S. 250, by the Go Mart gas station just down the road from Dan Cava’s Toyota World. Middletown Tractor was previously located at this site. -
Finalists work toward next round of business competition
The 10 teams remaining in the 2011-12 West Virginia Statewide Collegiate Business Plan Competition are gaining “phenomenal experience.”
Those finalists were announced in December following round two of the competition, which was held Nov. 15 at the University of Charleston. -
Auto parts focus of Shaffer’s Recycling Center
John Shaffer, of the new Shaffer’s Recycling Center, loves his work and is following in his dad’s footsteps.
In November, he and his wife Kim officially started the business at 300 Jefferson St. in Fairview. After coming into town, people can find the facility by turning right past First Exchange Bank and traveling about a quarter of a mile. Residents may remember the building as the former home of Fairview Bit. -
Rider Pharmacy marking 45th anniversary
Rider Pharmacy has worked hard over the past 45 years to establish superior customer service and products.
The late Alice Bennett established Bennett’s Pharmacy in 1939 at 310 Merchant St. in Fairmont, across the street from where Rider Pharmacy is located today. -
Unemployment rate falling in most state counties
Most counties in the state have improved their unemployment rates, and this trend is expected to continue gradually in the near future.
WorkForce West Virginia recently released Labor Market Information by West Virginia County for November 2011. The report provides a county emphasis map, which is a ranking of the counties. -
Whitney Helms relocates to Les Cheveux
“Boring” isn’t a word Whitney Helms associates with her job.
Helms, who recently relocated to Les Cheveux in Fairmont, gets to do a variety of beauty-related tasks in her profession, which keeps her on her toes and makes her work interesting. -
INNOVA investing in new ethane ‘cracker’ technology
INNOVA Commercialization Group of Fairmont is helping Aither Chemicals of South Charleston keep West Virginia resources in the state.
INNOVA, an initiative of the West Virginia High Technology Consortium Foundation, recently invested $200,000 in Aither Chemicals, which is developing a new ethane “cracker” technology. - More Business Headlines
-
Online convenience
