Senate 706

WEST virginia legislature

2026 regular session

Committee Substitute

for

Senate Bill 706

By Senators Jeffries and Rose

[Reported February 10, 2026, from the Committee on Energy, Industry, and Mining]

A BILL to amend and reenact §11-13A-3a and §11-13A-5a of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, relating to temporarily modifying the amount of severance tax on newly drilled oil and natural gas wells; temporarily modifying certain allocations of the severance tax to counties and municipalities; and specifying the duration of the temporary time period.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:

ARTICLE 13A. SEVERANCE AND BUSINESS PRIVILEGE TAX ACT.

§11-13A-3a. Imposition of tax on privilege of severing natural gas or oil.

(a) Imposition of tax. – For the privilege of engaging or continuing within this state in the business of severing natural gas or oil for sale, profit, or commercial use, there is levied and shall be collected from every person exercising the privilege an annual privilege tax at the rate and measure provided in subsection (b) of this section. Provided, That Effective for all taxable periods beginning on or after January 1, 2000, there is an exemption from the imposition of the tax provided in this article on the following:

(1) Free natural gas provided to any surface owner;

(2) Natural gas produced from any well which produced an average of less than 5,000 cubic feet of natural gas per day during the calendar year immediately preceding a given taxable period;

(3) Oil produced from any oil well which produced an average of less than one-half barrel of oil per day during the calendar year immediately preceding a given taxable period; and

(4) For a maximum period of 10 years, all natural gas or oil produced from any well which has not produced marketable quantities of natural gas or oil for five consecutive years immediately preceding the year in which a well is placed back into production and thereafter produces marketable quantities of natural gas or oil.

(b) Rate and measure of tax. – The tax imposed in subsection (a) of this section is five percent of the gross value of the natural gas or oil produced by the producer as shown by the gross proceeds derived from the sale thereof by the producer, except as otherwise provided in this article. Provided, That Effective for taxable periods beginning on or after January 1, 2020:

(1) For all natural gas produced from any well which produced an average in excess of 60,000 cubic feet of natural gas per day during the calendar year immediately preceding a given taxable year, and for oil produced from any well which produced an average in excess of 10 barrels of oil per day, during the calendar year immediately preceding the beginning date of a given taxable year, the rate of tax is five percent of the gross value of the natural gas or oil produced as shown by the gross proceeds derived from the sale thereof by the producer. For any natural gas and oil produced from any new well that is drilled and completed after June 30, 2026, the rate of tax is three-and-one-quarter percent of the gross value of the natural gas or oil produced, as shown by the gross proceeds derived from the sale thereof by the producer, for a period of 24 consecutive months calculated from the date of first sale of natural gas or oil from each such well. As used in this article, a new well is drilled and completed when it is hydraulically fractured;

(2) For all natural gas produced from any well, excluding wells utilizing horizontal drilling techniques targeting shale formations, which produced an average between 5,000 cubic feet of natural gas per day and 60,000 cubic feet of natural gas per day during the calendar year immediately preceding the beginning date of a given taxable year, and for oil produced from any well, excluding wells utilizing horizontal drilling techniques targeting shale formations, which produced an average between one-half barrel per day and 10 barrels per day, during the calendar year immediately preceding the beginning date of a given taxable year, the rate of tax is two and five tenths two-and-five-tenths percent of the gross value of the natural gas or oil produced as shown by the gross proceeds derived from the sale thereof by the producer; and

(3) For all natural gas produced from wells utilizing horizontal drilling techniques targeting shale formations, which produced an average between 5,000 cubic feet of natural gas per day and 60,000 cubic feet of natural gas per day during the calendar year immediately preceding the beginning date of a given taxable year, and for oil produced from wells utilizing horizontal drilling techniques targeting shale formations, which produced an average between one-half barrel per day and 10 barrels per day, during the calendar year immediately preceding the beginning date of a given taxable year, the rate of tax is five percent of the gross value of the natural gas or oil produced as shown by the gross proceeds derived from the sale thereof by the producer.

(c) Tax in addition to other taxes. – The tax imposed by this section applies to all persons severing gas or oil in this state and is in addition to all other taxes imposed by law.

(d) For purposes of this section, in determining the average amount of production of gas and oil in any given calendar year, a taxpayer must shall calculate the actual production of such the well in the calendar year and divide the same by the number of days the well was in operation and producing gas or oil in such that calendar year.

(e) After the dedication in §11-13A-5a of this code is made, the remaining proceeds collected from the tax imposed at the rate prescribed under subdivision (2), subsection (b) of this section are dedicated to the Oil and Gas Abandoned Well Plugging Fund created under §22-6-29a of this code. Provided, That If on June 1, 2023, or on June 1 of any year thereafter, there exists in the Oil and Gas Abandoned Well Plugging Fund an amount equal to or exceeding the sum of $6 million, then the special rate of tax imposed under subdivision (2), subsection (b) of this section is reduced to zero for the taxable year beginning on and after the next succeeding January 1. The Tax Commissioner shall issue an Administrative Notice by July 1 of each year indicating the balance in the fund as of the immediately preceding June 1 and the rate of tax on wells pursuant to this subsection.

§11-13A-5a. Dedication of 10 percent of oil and gas severance tax for benefit of counties and municipalities and of three fourths of one percent of oil and gas severance tax for the benefit of the Office of Oil and Gas in the Department of Environmental Protection; distribution of major portion of such dedicated tax to oil and gas producing counties; distribution of minor portion of such dedicated tax to all counties and municipalities; reports; rules; special funds in the office of state treasurer; methods and formulae for distribution of such dedicated tax; expenditure of funds by counties and municipalities for public purposes; and requiring special county and municipal budgets and reports thereon.

(a) Effective July 1, 1996, five percent of the tax attributable to the severance of oil and gas imposed by §11-13A-3a of this code article is hereby dedicated for the use and benefit of counties and municipalities within this state and shall be distributed to the counties and municipalities as provided in this section. Effective July 1, 1997, and thereafter, 10 percent of the tax attributable to the severance of oil and gas imposed by §11-13A-3a of this article is hereby dedicated for the use and benefit of counties and municipalities within this state and shall be distributed to the counties and municipalities as provided in this section. Effective July 1, 2023, and every year thereafter, three fourths of one percent of the tax attributable to the severance of oil and gas imposed by §11-13A-3a of this code, not to exceed $1,200,000, is hereby dedicated for the use and benefit of regulating the oil and gas industry by the Office of Oil and Gas in the Department of Environmental Protection and shall be deposited in the Oil and Gas Operating Permit and Processing Fund to ensure that the Office of Oil and Gas has sufficient funding to support its regulatory mission of ensuring the safety of the natural environment of this state. For any natural gas and oil produced from any new well that is drilled and completed after June 30, 2026:

(1) For a period of 24 consecutive months, calculated from the date of first sale of natural gas or oil from that new well, 15-and-one-half percent of the tax attributable to the severance of oil and gas imposed by §11-13A-3a of this article on that new well is dedicated for the use and benefit of counties and municipalities within this state and shall be distributed to the counties and municipalities as provided in this section;

(2) For all periods following expiration of the 24 consecutive month period provided in this subdivision, 10 percent of the tax attributable to the severance of oil and gas imposed by §11-13A-3a of this article on that new well is dedicated for the use and benefit of counties and municipalities within this state and shall be distributed to the counties and municipalities as provided in this section; and

(3) As used in this article, a new well is drilled and completed when it is hydraulically fractured.

(b) Seventy-five percent of the dedicated tax for counties and municipalities shall be distributed by the State Treasurer in the manner specified in this section to the various counties of this state in which the oil and gas upon which this additional tax is imposed was located at the time it was removed from the ground. Those counties are referred to in this section as the "oil and gas producing counties". The remaining 25 percent of the net proceeds of this additional tax on oil and gas shall be distributed among all the counties and municipalities of this state in the manner specified in this section.

(c) The Tax Commissioner is hereby granted has plenary power and authority to promulgate:

(1) Reasonable rules requiring the furnishing by oil and gas producers of such additional information as may be necessary to compute the allocation required under the provisions of subsection (f) of this section; The Tax Commissioner is also hereby granted plenary power and authority to promulgate and

(2) Such other reasonable rules as may be necessary to implement the provisions of this section.

(d) In order to provide a procedure for the distribution of 75 percent of the dedicated tax for counties and municipalities on oil and gas to the oil and gas producing counties, the special fund known as the oil and gas county revenue fund established in the State Treasurer's office by chapter 242, Acts of the Legislature, 1995 regular session, as amended and reenacted in the subsequent act of the Legislature, is hereby continued. In order to provide a procedure for the distribution of the remaining 25 percent of the dedicated tax for counties and municipalities on oil and gas to all counties and municipalities of the state, without regard to oil and gas having been produced in those counties or municipalities, the special fund known as the all counties and municipalities revenue fund established in the State Treasurer's office by chapter 242, Acts of the Legislature, 1995 regular session, as amended and reenacted in the subsequent Act of the Legislature, is hereby continued and redesignated as the "all counties and municipalities oil and gas revenue fund". and is hereby continued

Seventy-five percent of the dedicated tax for counties and municipalities on oil and gas shall be deposited in the oil and gas county revenue fund and 25 percent of this dedicated tax on oil and gas shall be deposited in the all counties and municipalities oil and gas revenue fund, from time to time, as the proceeds are received by the Tax Commissioner. The moneys in the funds shall be distributed to the respective counties and municipalities entitled to the moneys in the manner set forth in subsection (e) of this section.

(e) The moneys in the oil and gas county revenue fund and the moneys in the all counties and municipalities oil and gas revenue fund shall be allocated among and distributed annually to the counties and municipalities entitled to the moneys by the State Treasurer in the manner specified in this section. On or before each distribution date, the State Treasurer shall determine the total amount of moneys in each fund which will be available for distribution to the respective counties and municipalities entitled to the moneys on that distribution date. The amount to which an oil and gas producing county is entitled from the oil and gas county revenue fund shall be determined in accordance with subsection (f) of this section, and the amount to which every county and municipality shall be entitled from the all counties and municipalities oil and gas revenue fund shall be determined in accordance with subsection (g) of this section. After determining, as set forth in subsections (f) and (g) of this section, the amount each county and municipality is entitled to receive from the respective fund or funds, a warrant of the State Auditor for the sum due to the county or municipality shall issue and a check drawn thereon making payment of the sum shall thereafter be distributed to the county or municipality.

(f) The amount to which an oil and gas producing county is entitled from the oil and gas county revenue fund shall be determined by:

(1) In the case of moneys derived from tax on the severance of gas:

(A) Dividing the total amount of moneys in the fund derived from tax on the severance of gas then available for distribution by the total volume of cubic feet of gas extracted in this state during the preceding year; and

(B) Multiplying the quotient thus obtained by the number of cubic feet of gas taken from the ground in the county during the preceding year; and

(2) In the case of moneys derived from tax on the severance of oil:

(A) Dividing the total amount of moneys in the fund derived from tax on the severance of oil then available for distribution by the total number of barrels of oil extracted in this state during the preceding year; and

(B) Multiplying the quotient thus obtained by the number of barrels of oil taken from the ground in the county during the preceding year.

(g) The amount to which each county and municipality is entitled from the all counties and municipalities oil and gas revenue fund shall be determined in accordance with the provisions of this subsection. For purposes of this subsection "population" means the population as determined by the most recent decennial census taken under the authority of the United States.

(1) The State Treasurer shall first apportion the total amount of moneys available in the all counties and municipalities oil and gas revenue fund by multiplying the total amount in the fund by the percentage which the population of each county bears to the total population of the state. The amount thus apportioned for each county is the county's "base share".

(2) Each county's base share shall then be subdivided into two portions. One portion is determined by multiplying the base share by that percentage which the total population of all unincorporated areas within the county bears to the total population of the county, and the other portion is determined by multiplying the base share by that percentage which the total population of all municipalities within the county bears to the total population of the county. The former portion shall be paid to the county and the latter portion shall be the "municipalities' portion" of the county's base share. The percentage of the latter portion to which each municipality in the county is entitled shall be determined by multiplying the total of the latter portion by the percentage which the population of each municipality within the county bears to the total population of all municipalities within the county.

(h) Moneys distributed to any county or municipality under the provisions of this section, from either or both special funds, shall be deposited in the county or municipal general fund and may be expended by the county commission or governing body of the municipality for such purposes as the county commission or governing body shall determine to be in the best interest of its respective county or municipality. Provided, That In counties with population in excess of 200,000, at least 75 percent of the funds received from the oil and gas county revenue fund shall be apportioned to and expended within the oil and gas producing area or areas of the county, the oil and gas producing areas of each county to be determined generally by the State Tax Commissioner. Provided, however, That The moneys distributed to any county or municipality under the provisions of this section shall may not be budgeted for personal services in an amount to exceed one fourth of the total amount of the moneys.

(i) On or before March 28, 1997, and each March 28 thereafter, each county commission or governing body of a municipality receiving any such moneys shall submit to the Tax Commissioner on forms provided by the Tax Commissioner a special budget, detailing how the moneys are to be spent during the subsequent fiscal year. The budget shall be followed in expending the moneys unless a subsequent budget is approved by the State Tax Commissioner. All unexpended balances remaining in the county or municipality general fund at the close of a fiscal year shall remain in the General Fund and may be expended by the county or municipality without restriction.

(j) On or before December 15, 1996, and each December 15 thereafter, the Tax Commissioner shall deliver to the Clerk of the Senate and the Clerk of the House of Delegates a consolidated report of the budgets, created by subsection (i) of this section, for all county commissions and municipalities as of July 15 of the current year.

(k) The State Tax Commissioner shall retain for the benefit of the state from the dedicated tax attributable to the severance of oil and gas the amount of $35,000 annually as a fee for the administration of the additional tax by the Tax Commissioner.