by Michael Tilley (mtilley@talkbusiness.net)
Arkansas’ natural gas severance tax revenue is on track in fiscal year 2023 to set a new record and top $100 million if trends continue in the next four months. The gain comes in the face of industry criticism that President Joe Biden’s energy policies would curtail production.
Through the first eight months of the fiscal year (July 2022-February 2023), the natural gas severance tax has generated $61.556 million, or an average of $8.46 million a month. The average is well ahead of the $6.552 million in fiscal year 2015, when collections set a record of $78.634 million.
Fiscal 2023 is part of a two-year trend in which revenues have recovered from a dramatic decline that began in fiscal year 2016 when revenue was $31.858 million, well below the 2015 record. Revenues reached a recent low of just $14.067 million 2020.
