This section gives certain gas-well operators a tax credit when gas prices fall within specified ranges, and it requires the comptroller to certify and publish the relevant price each month.
Subsec. (g) of this section provided for the expiration of the section on Sept. 1, 2007. Subsec. (g) was repealed by Acts 2007, 80th Leg., R.S., Ch. 911 (H.B. 2982), Sec. 4, which was effective January 1, 2008, after the section had expired. Sec. 201.059. CREDITS FOR QUALIFYING LOW-PRODUCING WELLS. (a) In this section: (1) "Commission" means the Railroad Commission of Texas. (2) "Mcf" means 1,000 cubic feet of gas as measured in accordance with Section 91.052, Natural Resources Code. (3) "Qualifying low-producing well" means a gas well whose production during a three-month period is no more than 90 mcf per day, excluding gas flared pursuant to the rules of the commission. For purposes of qualifying a gas well, production per well per day is determined by computing the average daily production from the well using the greater of the monthly production from the well as reported in the monthly well production reports made to the commission and the monthly production from the well as reported in the producer's reports made to the comptroller under Section 201.203, including any amendments to those reports. (b) Each month, the comptroller shall certify the average taxable price of gas, adjusted to 2005 dollars, during the previous three months based on various price indices available to producers, including prices reported by Henry Hub, Houston Ship Channel, Mississippi Barge Transport, New York Mercantile Exchange, or other spot prices, as applicable. The comptroller shall publish certifications under this subsection in the Texas Register. (c) An operator of a qualifying low-producing well is entitled to a 25 percent credit on the tax otherwise due on gas produced and saved from that well during a month if the average taxable price of gas certified by the comptroller under Subsection (b) for the previous three-month period is more than $3 per mcf but not more than $3.50 per mcf. (d) An operator of a qualifying low-producing well is entitled to a 50 percent credit on the tax otherwise due on gas produced and saved from that well during a month if the average taxable price of gas certified by the comptroller under Subsection (b) for the previous three-month period is more than $2.50 per mcf but not more than $3 per mcf. (e) An operator of a qualifying low-producing well is entitled to a 100 percent credit on the tax otherwise due on gas produced and saved from that well during a month if the average taxable price of gas certified by the comptroller under Subsection (b) for the previous three-month period is not more than $2.50 per mcf. (f) If the tax is paid on gas at the full rate provided by Section 201.052, the person paying the tax is entitled to a credit against taxes imposed by this chapter or Chapter 202 on the amount overpaid. To receive the credit, the person must apply to the comptroller for the credit not later than the expiration of the applicable period for filing a tax refund under Section 111.104. Subsec. (g) was repealed by Acts 2007, 80th Leg., R.S., Ch. 911 (H.B. 2982), Sec. 4. The effective date of the repeal was January 1, 2008, which was after the expiration of the section. (g) This section expires September 1, 2007. (g) Repealed by Acts 2007, 80th Leg., R.S., Ch. 911, Sec. 4, eff. January 1, 2008. Added by Acts 2005, 79th Leg., Ch. 267 (H.B. 2161), Sec. 9, eff. September 1, 2005. Amended by: Acts 2007, 80th Leg., R.S., Ch. 911 (H.B. 2982), Sec. 4, eff. January 1, 2008. Acts 2019, 86th Leg., R.S., Ch. 75 (S.B. 925), Sec. 1, eff. September 1, 2019.