JUNEAU, Alaska, April 30 (UPI) -- Decoupling oil and gas taxes would have a negative impact on natural gas projects planned for the state of Alaska, Gov. Sean Parnell announced.
Parnell, a Republican, struck down a state Senate bill that would have decoupled petroleum taxes through separate levies on oil and gas production, his office announced.
Alaskan lawmakers had pressed for the measure as a way to generate revenue for the state. Sen. Bert Stedman, R-Sitka and co-chairman of the Alaska Senate Finance Committee, said in February there was "no doubt" that oil and gas should be taxed separately.
Alaskan newspaper Alaska Dispatch said early this year that taxing oil and gas separately could give the state an extra $2 billion in revenue.
Parnell, however, expressed concern that decoupling oil and gas taxes would result in significant tax increases for oil and gas companies in his state.
"At a time when my administration proposed tax credits to incentivize more Alaska jobs in the oil patch, a tax increase would send us in the wrong direction," he said.
He complained the measure would have "a destabilizing influence" on plans to build a natural gas pipeline from lucrative North Slope fields in his state.
The veto, announced Thursday, is Parnell's first.
