While the Keystone XL pipeline may not receive direct payments from the U.S. government, an analysis by two environmental groups finds that taxpayers could be on the hook for more than $1 billion in tax breaks for the refiners that will process the oil.
The report by Oil Change International and Earth Track looks at capacity upgrades made to three Gulf Coast refineries that will process the crude shipped via Keystone XL. Under Title 179C of the U.S. tax code, oil refineries can deduct depreciation from such investments at an accelerated rate. The tax break, the groups say, is unique to the refining industry and an amendment last year extend the rule specifically to equipment used to process crude from the oil sands.
All told, the analysis [PDF] finds taxpayers will spend $1 billion to $1.8 billion subsidizing these upgrades. The report’s authors characterize their estimate as “conservative.”
And the upgrades to one of these refineries, Valero Port Arthur, is being described to investors as enabling the processing of Canadian crude into diesel and jet fuel for export.
From Oil Change International’s blog post on the report:
The public has the right to both know how our money supports Big Oil and see a thorough evaluation of any proposal the oil industry has for expanding its infrastructure. Such an examination would throw light on the true costs of expanding fossil fuel infrastructure at a time when we need to reduce our dependence on oil, rather than simply trumpeting the short term benefits to companies involved.
Photo by jczart via Creative Commons