(The Center Square) – The Texas oil and natural gas industry paid a record $26.3 billion in state and local taxes and state royalties in fiscal 2023, the highest in state history.
This was $1.5 billion more than it paid in the previous fiscal year, breaking that record of $24.7 billion, The Center Square reported.
In fiscal 2022, the industry paid the highest total in Texas history, representing a 54% increase from its previous record of $16 billion paid in 2019. It was also more than double what it paid in fiscal 2021. Fiscal 2023 smashed these records.
Property taxes paid by the oil and natural gas industry also increased over the year by $1.8 billion, as property values of oil and natural gas-bearing mineral properties more than doubled in a single year.
What the industry paid in taxes and royalties translates to $72 million a day. The revenue funds Texas’ public schools, universities, roads, first responders and other essential services, the association notes. Record remittances funneled $2.81 billion into Texas Independent School Districts and $885.6 million to counties from property taxes paid from oil and natural gas production, pipelines and gas utilities.