Utica in 2015 and the Oil and Gas Severance Tax

Last week, we hosted our 10th Energy Forum with the topic for our panel discussion being the Utica outlook for the coming year. Mike Moore, CEO of Gulfport Energy, opened the Forum with an insightful keynote address about how Gulfport developed its leadership position in the Utica. He then joined the President of the Appalachian Partnership for Economic Growth (APEG), two of my partners, Jeff Huntsberger and Jud Scheaf, and me in a panel discussion. The full webcast can be seen on our website here.

One topic of intense discussion among the panelists prior to the Forum was Ohio’s oil and gas severance tax. Next week, Governor Kasich will be providing an outline of his proposed budget and he has indicated that a severance tax increase will be addressed. Ohio is not alone in addressing this issue. The same debate is taking place in Pennsylvania. Both Governor Kasich (R) and Governor Tom Wolf (D) were elected last November and both ran on increasing the severance tax over the strong objections of the Oil & Gas Lobbyists.

Recently, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette ran two opinion pieces on the severance tax debate in Pennsylvania. The same arguments – both for the increase and opposing the increase – could be made in Ohio.

More to come!