State legislators: may be no short-term relief from gas prices

CHEYENNE — There may not be anything state leaders can do to ease the burden of high fuel prices on Wyomingites, at least in the short term. That was part of the message at the second public meeting Friday of a fuel price working group. 
“If you’re looking for a short-term answer, we can’t go to the retailers and say, ‘Lower your pump prices,’” said Bobby Rolston, a member of Gov. Mark Gordon’s Gas and Diesel Price Working Group. “Short of just sending everybody a $250, $500 check, there isn’t really a short-term solution.” 
Rolston represents the oil and gas industry on the advisory panel. There are mid- to long-term solutions, he added, many of which the group discussed for the bulk of the meeting. 
Rep. Clark Stith, R-Rock Springs, suggested potential dynamic sales tax reduction that would decrease the statewide sales tax by half a percentage point when a certain benchmark in state tax revenue is hit. That, he said, could allow for at least a minimal tax relief for regular Wyomingites when state coffers benefit from higher oil export prices. 
“That would apply to anyone who buys anything, whether at a big box or a small retail store,” Stith said. “If you buy a book, if you buy a cup of coffee, if you get your computer repaired.”
Other ideas floated by the group included a potential income-qualified tax relief program for elderly and disabled residents, a property tax rebate and, in a continuation of discussion from an earlier public meeting, increased refinery capacity, import opportunities and reserves in the state. 
Chair Brenda Henson, who serves as the director of the Wyoming Department of Revenue, noted that gas prices have already dropped since the committee first convened (privately) earlier in the summer. That, she said, may be evidence that any in-state group just might not have very much influence over global markets. 
“We’ve seen that the price at the pump has gone down in many areas of Wyoming from what those prices were even when this group was first formed,” Henson said. “Obviously, we had no impact on what … was behind those prices.” 
The group will prepare a report on its findings for the governor. 
Rep. Mike Greear, R-Worland, said that it has been difficult to tell his employees in northern Wyoming that there may not necessarily be an immediate solution to high prices. He noted that he paid the same high price for gas as everyone in Wyoming to travel five hours to the state-capital city. 
“But we’re talking about, what can we do? We are talking about, how can we be prepared for next time?” Greear said. “I feel that is what the governor has asked us to do.” 
Glen Murrell, executive director for the Wyoming Energy Authority, addressed several issues discussed at a meeting on July 15. He said that a previous speaker mentioned increased production capacity within Wyoming, and Murrell pointed out that some focus on that. 
“The Enhanced Oil Recovery Institute is literally doing that on a day-to-day basis, and the (U.S.) Geological Survey is working on that, as well,” he said. “We work in concert with them, and have provided capital for projects to go after increased production of oil out of Wyoming reservoirs.” 
Increased activity within the state, he said, would be unlikely to impact high prices worldwide. 
“The potential for increased production out of Wyoming to influence what is a global commodity – possibly what is the most globalized commodity ever seen – is unlikely. It is unlikely that increasing production will affect the supply-side economics … if we’re talking about OPEC, yeah, they can increase production and drive the price down,” Murrell said. “Wyoming? It is not really of sufficient scale to have any sort of impact.” 
The issue, he said, extends past gas prices and into Wyoming’s energy security. 
“How does Wyoming get processed fuels into our industries and our residences?” Murrell said. “We have to look at infrastructure … as a solution in the medium- to long-term issues.” 
Getting a pipeline built, he acknowledged, would be a difficult and years-long process. 
“Five years is an optimistic view to give you in terms of the overall infrastructure side of the deal,” he said. 
Wyoming Department of Transportation Director Luke Reiner asked if there are any new-build plans for U.S. refineries. 
“If the issue is trying to import to Wyoming … are any refineries being planned in this nation, where we could potentially say, there is a source for us to (start) a pipeline to bring it here?” Reiner asked. 
“I suspect the answer would be no, in terms of new builds,” Murrell said. “The work that is going on, I suspect, is similar to work like HollyFrontier in retrofitting, expansion. Greenfield build of a refinery is going to be challenging, from not just the federal and local standpoint, but in social buy-in and capital cost.”
 
 
This story was posted on July 23, 2022.