Essays on the taxation of oil and natural gas
The dissertation contains three essays on taxation and other governmental policies affecting oil and natural gas production. In the first essay, the welfare cost of taxing an exhaustible resource is analyzed. The analyses suggest that the deadweight loss associated with the distortionary tax is smaller if the resource is exhaustible and domestically-owned; this suggests further that exhaustible resources should be taxed relatively heavily and has implications regarding the welfare gain from such policies as oil price decontrol. In the second essay, several contributions are made to auction theory, particularly as it relates to collision and to the use of minimum prices. These results are combined with other parts of the literature on auctions and contracts which have not previously been applied to oil lease auctions. Together, they suggest a structure for oil lease auctions quite different from that currently recommended theoretically. The third essay examines the optimal structure of resource contracts when the government is a party to the agreement but future governments cannot be bound by its terms. The potential developer is assumed to perceive that there is a probability of future expropriation which is an increasing function of net cash flow and a decreasing function of future taxes.
- OSTI ID:
- 6699652
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
021000* -- Petroleum-- Legislation & Regulations
03 NATURAL GAS
031000 -- Natural Gas-- Legislation & Regulations
29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY
293000 -- Energy Planning & Policy-- Policy
Legislation
& Regulation
294002 -- Energy Planning & Policy-- Petroleum
294003 -- Energy Planning & Policy-- Natural Gas
ECONOMIC IMPACT
ENERGY POLICY
ENERGY SOURCES
FLUIDS
FOSSIL FUELS
FUEL GAS
FUELS
GAS FUELS
GASES
GOVERNMENT POLICIES
NATURAL GAS
NORTH AMERICA
PETROLEUM
PRODUCTION
TAXES
USA