Montgomery – Lieutenant Governor Jim Folsom Junior says the Legislature needs to rewrite Alabama's tax on oil and natural gas production. He said that was made clear by the state's loss of nearly all the $3.6 billion court judgment against Exxon Mobil.
In what he called a letter "to the people of Alabama" Folsom said Alabama has wonderful natural resources and needs to make sure powerful corporations pay a fair price to take advantage of them.
Dean Peeler is the executive director of the Alabama Petroleum Institute. He said the state government and oil companies have worked together to develop the natural gas industry in Alabama, which has produced lots of revenue for the state.
In November, the Republican-dominated Alabama Supreme Court split along party lines in throwing out most of a $3.6 billion judgment the state won against Exxon Mobil in a dispute over natural gas royalties due the state from wells drilled in state-owned waters along the Alabama coast.
(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)