Oil and natural gas opponents think they’ve got some ammunition in a NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll from nearly a year ago showing that 74 percent of Americans support “Eliminating tax credits for the oil and gas industries.”

One problem with the February 2011 poll: There are no targeted tax credits in the Internal Revenue Code currently being used by the oil and natural gas industry.

The inconvenient truth for industry opponents is that contrary to what some politicians and pundits have said oil and natural gas companies currently aren’t receiving any unique tax credits or deductions.

Since its inception, the U.S. tax code has let corporate taxpayers recover costs and be taxed only on net income. These cost-recovery mechanisms shouldn’t be confused with tax credits or “subsidie... more »

Happy Friday, and here are some of the positive ways the oil and natural gas industry is affecting life across the country:

Almost heaven? - In Marshall County, West Virginia, the Marcellus shale formation is attracting natural gas development, which in turn is bringing wealth to county residents, West Virginia Public Broadcasting reports on its website. Marshall County Commissioner Donald Mason:

"We have seen several people in our county become instant millionaires with the signing of the leases and some of them are already producing. There are rumors that some people are getting as much as $60,000 a month from their gas wells."

The secondary story is familiar: Income from natural gas leases is rippling into the local economy, increasing business for restaurants, hotels, trucking operatio... more »

One senator called it a dog-and-pony show - and even produced a funny photo for illustrative effect. But last week's Senate Finance Committee hearing with top executives of America's top 5 oil companies - ExxonMobil, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, Shell and BP America - was anything but a frivolous sideshow act. Before it was over two distinct visions for the country's energy and economic future were clearer. The contrast will be center-stage in Congress today when the full Senate is scheduled to consider legislation that would raise taxes on oil and natural gas companies.

Backers of a proposal to end several tax deductions for the five energy companies, some that are available to all U.S. businesses, see no problem with raising taxes on successful companies. They've justified the push as: a) a... more »

One step forward ... and two steps back. A simple but effective analysis of the administration's proposal to ramp up offshore oil drilling while it continues calling for higher taxes - on the industry that does the drilling. Now there's a policy muddle!

In his weekly Saturday radio address, President Obama said the government would do a number of things to promote offshore drilling: extend existing leases in the Gulf of Mexico and off Alaska's coast and hold more frequent lease sales in a federal petroleum reserve in Alaska.

The ideas are OK, but not great. (Especially when you throw in another new one from the administration, a graduated fee structure to prod energy companies to use existing leases - even though they already pay thousands of dollars for the right to hunt for oil and natur... more »

With the price of crude oil driving the cost of gasoline up, Americans may think little can be done about prices at the pump. Not so. A renewed focus on tapping American sources of oil would send an important message to the global market and, long-term, will help with demand pressures forcing crude prices higher.

That's a key takeaway from API President and CEO Jack Gerard's "Newsmakers" conversation with reporters on C-SPAN. "The message the Congress needs to send the marketplace right now is that help is on the way," Gerard said of new pro-exploration legislation now under consideration. The interview with reporters Dina Cappiello of the Associated Press and Jim Snyder of Bloomberg News aired Sunday. Take a look:

Highlights:

• Gasoline prices are tied to the price of crude oil, whi... more »