At low prices, North Slope production taxes could drop to zero

A Doyon drill rig putting in new wells at the ConocoPhillips CD5 drill site on the North Slope. Photo: Rachel Waldholz/APRNAs oil continues to hover around $40 a barrel, Alaska is confronting a new reality: if prices stay this low, the state’s major North Slope producers might owe no production taxes at all in coming years.
With the state struggling to close a $4 billion budget deficit, that’s not an appealing prospect. And many lawmakers say they never understood how the tax system