Federal Oil & Gas Subsidies

Fossil-energy companies get tax exemptions, free access to drill on public land, special accounting rules for profits, protection from foreign competition through import tariffs and regulations and the list goes on. We give so many favors to oil and gas companies that it's hard to keep track. Luckily, the determined wonks at Taxpayers for Common Sense have  for us.

The charts below illustrate the biggest oil and gas subsidies in various laws and accounting rules for 2011-2015, with more than $55 billion in targeted benefits for the industry and nearly $23 billion in general business subsidies.

We received the following question from a commenter:

(Grist, 7/29/2011, Taxpayers for Common Sense)

Why does the chart point out that the biggest tax break given the oil industry is the ethanol tax credit, when it is really the ethanol industry – over the objections of almost everyone in the oil industry – that forces its way into gasoline with federal mandates and gets the benefits of the tax credit?