The oil and gas industry has a significant and far reaching economic impact in Louisiana. According to one 2014 study, the total direct and indirect impact on the state is approximately $73.8 billion.[1] Taxes make up a large part of the industry’s direct economic impact in Louisiana: In 2013, the industry paid nearly $1.5 billion in taxes to the State, about 14.6% of the total taxes, licenses and fees collected that year.[2] A large chunk of the taxes paid by oil and gas companies are severance taxes, which are levied on the production of natural resources taken from private and public land or water bottoms within the territorial boundaries of the state.[3] Natural resources might include, for example timber, minerals like oil and gas, coal, salt, or sulphur. Overall, collections on oil and gas amount to nearly 92% of all severance tax collections in the state.[4]…
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