14 October 2015, News Wires – Texas may collect $2.6 billion less in taxes over the next two years as the US state’s coffers are hit by the downturn in crude prices, according to state officials.
- Reuters
14 October 2015, News Wires – Texas may collect $2.6 billion less in taxes over the next two years as the US state’s coffers are hit by the downturn in crude prices, according to state officials.
“Despite the significant retrenchment in the oil and gas sector we witnessed in fiscal 2015, revenues remained in line with the estimates we made in January,” Reuters quoted Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar as saying.
“That said, we anticipate that prolonged weakness in oil and gas markets will continue to slow our economy.”
The state, which is the largest US producer of oil, projects the revenue available for spending will fall to $110.4 billion in 2016 and 2017, down from a prior estimate of $113 billion in its previous biennial estimate that projects how much revenue will be available in the next two-year budget cycle.
Texas collects taxes on the market value of oil and gas production. Since hitting a peak over $100 per barrel 15 months ago, crude prices are down 50%.
Get the latest energy news from Sweetcrudereports.