79-4217. Mineral severance tax; imposition of tax; rate; measurement of production; exemptions.
(a) There is hereby imposed an excise tax upon the severance and production of coal, oil or gas from the earth or water in this state for sale, transport, storage, profit or commercial use, subject to the following provisions of this section. Such tax shall be borne ratably by all persons within the term "producer" as such term is defined in K.S.A. 79-4216, and amendments thereto, in proportion to their respective beneficial interest in the coal, oil or gas severed. Such tax shall be applied equally to all portions of the gross value of each barrel of oil severed and subject to such tax and to the gross value of the gas severed and subject to such tax. The rate of such tax shall be 8% of the gross value of all oil or gas severed from the earth or water in this state and subject to the tax imposed under this act. The rate of such tax with respect to coal shall be $1 per ton. For the purposes of the tax imposed hereunder the amount of oil or gas produced shall be measured or determined: (1) In the case of oil, by tank tables compiled to show 100% of the full capacity of tanks without deduction for overage or losses in handling; allowance for any reasonable and bona fide deduction for basic sediment and water, and for correction of temperature to 60 degrees Fahrenheit will be allowed; and if the amount of oil severed has been measured or determined by tank tables compiled to show less than 100% of the full capacity of tanks, such amount shall be raised to a basis of 100% for the purpose of the tax imposed by this act; and (2) in the case of gas, by meter readings showing 100% of the full volume expressed in cubic feet at a standard base and flowing temperature of 60 degrees Fahrenheit, and at the absolute pressure at which the gas is sold and purchased; correction to be made for pressure according to Boyle's law, and used for specific gravity according to the gravity at which the gas is sold and purchased, or if not so specified, according to the test made by the balance method.
(b) The following shall be exempt from the tax imposed under this section:
(1) The severance and production of gas which is: (A) Injected into the earth for the purpose of lifting oil, recycling or repressuring; (B) used for fuel in connection with the operation and development for, or production of, oil or gas in the lease or production unit where severed; (C) lawfully vented or flared; (D) severed from a well having an average daily production during a calendar month having a gross value of not more than $87 per day, which well has not been significantly curtailed by reason of mechanical failure or other disruption of production; in the event that the production of gas from more than one well is gauged by a common meter, eligibility for exemption hereunder shall be determined by computing the gross value of the average daily combined production from all such wells and dividing the same by the number of wells gauged by such meter; (E) inadvertently lost on the lease or production unit by reason of leaks, blowouts or other accidental losses; (F) used or consumed for domestic or agricultural purposes on the lease or production unit from which it is severed; or (G) placed in underground storage for recovery at a later date and which was either originally severed outside of the state of Kansas, or as to which the tax levied pursuant to this act has been paid;
(2) the severance and production of oil which is: (A) From a lease or production unit whose average daily production is five barrels or less per producing well, which well or wells have not been significantly curtailed by reason of mechanical failure or other disruption of production; (B) from a lease or production unit, the producing well or wells upon which have a completion depth of 2,000 feet or more, and whose average daily production is six barrels or less per producing well or, if the price of oil as determined pursuant to subsection (d) is $16 or less, whose average daily production is seven barrels or less per producing well, or, if the price of oil as determined pursuant to subsection (d) is $15 or less, whose average daily production is eight barrels or less per producing well, or, if the price of oil as determined pursuant to subsection (d) is $14 or less, whose average daily production is nine barrels or less per producing well, or, if the price of oil as determined pursuant to subsection (d) is $13 or less, whose average daily production is 10 barrels or less per producing well, which well or wells have not been significantly curtailed by reason of mechanical failure or other disruption of production; (C) from a lease or production unit, whose production results from a tertiary recovery process. "Tertiary recovery process" means the process or processes described in subparagraphs (1) through (9) of 10 C.F.R. § 212.78(c) as in effect on June 1, 1979; (D) from a lease or production unit, the producing well or wells upon which have a completion depth of less than 2,000 feet and whose average daily production resulting from a water flood process, is six barrels or less per producing well, which well or wells have not been significantly curtailed by reason of mechanical failure or other disruption of production; (E) from a lease or production unit, the producing well or wells upon which have a completion depth of 2,000 feet or more, and whose average daily production resulting from a water flood process, is seven barrels or less per producing well or, if the price of oil as determined pursuant to subsection (d) is $16 or less, whose average daily production is eight barrels or less per producing well, or, if the price of oil as determined pursuant to subsection (d) is $15 or less, whose average daily production is nine barrels or less per producing well, or, if the price of oil as determined pursuant to subsection (d) is $14 or less, whose average daily production is 10 barrels or less per producing well, which well or wells have not been significantly curtailed by reason of mechanical failure or other disruption of production; (F) test, frac or swab oil which is sold or exchanged for value; or (G) inadvertently lost on the lease or production unit by reason of leaks or other accidental means;
(3) (A) any taxpayer applying for an exemption pursuant to subsections (b)(2)(A) and (B) shall make application biennially to the director of taxation therefor. Exemptions granted pursuant to subsections (b)(2)(A) and (B) shall be valid for a period of two years following the date of certification thereof by the director of taxation; (B) any taxpayer applying for an exemption pursuant to subsections (b)(2)(D) or (E) shall make application biennially to the director of taxation therefor. Such application shall be accompanied by proof of the approval of an application for the utilization of a water flood process therefor by the corporation commission pursuant to rules and regulations adopted under the authority of K.S.A. 55-152, and amendments thereto, and proof that the oil produced therefrom is kept in a separate tank battery and that separate books and records are maintained therefor. Such exemption shall be valid for a period of two years following the date of certification thereof by the director of taxation; (C) any exemption granted pursuant to subsections (b)(2)(A), (B), (D) or (E) with an odd lease number and an exemption termination date between June 1, 2004, and May 31, 2005, inclusive, shall be valid for a period of one year following the date of certification; and (D) notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph (A) or (B), any exemption in effect on the effective date of this act affected by the amendments to subsection (b)(2) by this act shall be redetermined in accordance with such amendments. Any such exemption, and any new exemption established by such amendments and applied for after the effective date of this act shall be valid for a period commencing with May 1, 1998, and ending on April 30, 1999;
(4) the severance and production of gas or oil from any pool from which oil or gas was first produced on or after April 1, 1983, and prior to July 1, 2012, as determined by the state corporation commission and certified to the director of taxation, and continuing for a period of 24 months from the month in which oil or gas was first produced from such pool as evidenced by an affidavit of completion of a well, filed with the state corporation commission and certified to the director of taxation. Exemptions granted for production from any well pursuant to this paragraph shall be valid for a period of 24 months following the month in which oil or gas was first produced from such pool. The term "pool" means an underground accumulation of oil or gas in a single and separate natural reservoir characterized by a single pressure system so that production from one part of the pool affects the reservoir pressure throughout its extent;
(5) the severance and production of oil from any well within a pool from which oil was first produced on or after July 1, 2012, as certified by the state corporation commission to the director of taxation, and from which the average daily severance and production of oil during the initial six months of production from the date of first production from such producing well, which well has not been significantly curtailed by reason of mechanical failure or other disruption of production, does not exceed 50 barrels per day, and continuing for a period of 24 months from the month in which oil was first produced from such pool as evidenced by an affidavit of completion of a well, filed with the state corporation commission and certified to the director of taxation. Exemptions granted for production from any well pursuant to this subsection shall be valid for a period of 24 months following the month in which oil was first produced from such pool. The term "pool" means an underground accumulation of oil in a single and separate natural reservoir characterized by a single pressure system so that production from one part of the pool affects the reservoir pressure throughout its extent. For any such well that has qualified for exemption, if the average daily severance and production of oil from such well exceeds 50 barrels per day within any qualifying one-month production period after the initial qualifying production period, the exemption for such well shall be terminated as of the commencement of such one-month production period;
(6) the severance and production of oil or gas from a three-year inactive well, as determined by the state corporation commission and certified to the director of taxation, for a period of 10 years after the date of receipt of such certification. As used in this paragraph, "three-year inactive well" means any well that has not produced oil or gas in more than one month in the three years prior to the date of application to the state corporation commission for certification as a three-year inactive well. An application for certification as a three-year inactive well shall be in such form and contain such information as required by the state corporation commission, and shall be made prior to July 1, 1996. The commission may revoke a certification if information indicates that a certified well was not a three-year inactive well or if other lease production is credited to the certified well. Upon notice to the operator that the certification for a well has been revoked, the exemption shall not be applied to the production from that well from the date of revocation;
(7) (A) The incremental severance and production of oil or gas which results from a production enhancement project begun on or after July 1, 1998, shall be exempt for a period of seven years from the start-up date of such project. As used in this paragraph:
(1) "Incremental severance and production" means the amount of oil or natural gas which is produced as the result of a production enhancement project which is in excess of the base production of oil or natural gas, and is determined by subtracting the base production from the total monthly production after the production enhancement project is completed.
(2) "Base production" means the average monthly amount of production for the twelve-month period immediately prior to the production enhancement project beginning date, minus the monthly rate of production decline for the well or project for each month beginning 180 days prior to the project beginning date. The monthly rate of production decline shall be equal to the average extrapolated monthly decline rate for the well or project for the twelve-month period immediately prior to the production enhancement project beginning date, except that the monthly rate of production decline shall be equal to zero in the case where the well or project has experienced no monthly decline during the twelve-month period immediately prior to the production enhancement project beginning date. Such monthly rate of production decline shall be continued as the decline that would have occurred except for the enhancement project. Any well or project which may have produced during the twelve-month period immediately prior to the production enhancement project beginning date but is not capable of production on the project beginning date shall have a base production equal to zero. The calculation of the base production amount shall be evidenced by an affidavit and supporting documentation filed by the applying taxpayer with the state corporation commission.
(3) "Workover" means any downhole operation in an existing oil or gas well that is designed to sustain, restore or increase the production rate or ultimate recovery of oil or gas, including, but not limited to, acidizing, reperforation, fracture treatment, sand/paraffin/scale removal or other wellbore cleanouts, casing repair, squeeze cementing, initial installation, or enhancement of artificial lifts including plunger lifts, rods, pumps, submersible pumps and coiled tubing velocity strings, downsizing existing tubing to reduce well loading, downhole commingling, bacteria treatments, polymer treatments, upgrading the size of pumping unit equipment, setting bridge plugs to isolate water production zones, or any combination of the aforementioned operations; "workover" shall not mean the routine maintenance, routine repair, or like for-like replacement of downhole equipment such as rods, pumps, tubing packers or other mechanical device.
(4) "Production enhancement project" means performing or causing to be performed the following:
(i) Workover;
(ii) recompletion to a different producing zone in the same well bore, except recompletions in formations and zones subject to a state corporation commission proration order;
(iii) secondary recovery projects;
(iv) addition of mechanical devices to dewater a gas or oil well;
(v) replacement or enhancement of surface equipment;
(vi) installation or enhancement of compression equipment, line looping or other techniques or equipment which increases production from a well or a group of wells in a project; or
(vii) new discoveries of oil or gas which are discovered as a result of the use of new technology, including, but not limited to, three dimensional seismic studies.
(B) The state corporation commission shall adopt rules and regulations necessary to efficiently and properly administer the provisions of this paragraph including rules and regulations for the qualification of production enhancement projects, the procedures for determining the monthly rate of production decline, criteria for determining the share of incremental production attributable to each well when a production enhancement project includes a group of wells, criteria for determining the start-up date for any project for which an exemption is claimed, and determining new qualifying technologies for the purposes of subsection (b)(7)(A)(4)(vii).
(C) Any taxpayer applying for an exemption pursuant to this paragraph shall make application to the director of taxation. Such application shall be accompanied by a state corporation commission certification that the production for which an exemption is sought results from a qualified production enhancement project and certification of the base production for the enhanced wells or group of wells, and the rate of decline to be applied to that base production. The secretary of revenue shall provide credit for any taxes paid between the project start-up date and the certification of qualifications by the commission.
(D) The exemptions provided for in this paragraph shall not apply for 12 months beginning July 1 of the year subsequent to any calendar year during which: (1) In the case of oil, the secretary of revenue determines that the weighted average price of Kansas oil at the wellhead has exceeded $20.00 per barrel; or (2) in the case of natural gas the secretary of revenue determines that the weighted average price of Kansas gas at the wellhead has exceeded $2.50 per Mcf.
(E) The provisions of this paragraph shall not affect any other exemption allowable pursuant to this section; and
(7) for the calendar year 1988, and any year thereafter, the severance or production of the first 350,000 tons of coal from any mine as certified by the state geological survey.
(c) No exemption shall be granted pursuant to subsection (b)(3) or (4) to any person who does not have a valid operator's license issued by the state corporation commission, and no refund of tax shall be made to any taxpayer attributable to any production in a period when such taxpayer did not hold a valid operator's license issued by the state corporation commission.
(d) On April 15, 1988, and on April 15 of each year thereafter, the secretary of revenue shall determine from statistics compiled and provided by the United States department of energy, the average price per barrel paid by the first purchaser of crude oil in this state for the six-month period ending on December 31 of the preceding year. Such price shall be used for the purpose of determining exemptions allowed by subsection (b)(2)(B) or (E) for the twelve-month period commencing on May 1 of such year and ending on April 30 of the next succeeding year.
History: L. 1983, ch. 313, § 2; L. 1984, ch. 364, § 1; L. 1986, ch. 204, § 1; L. 1987, ch. 393, § 1; L. 1992, ch. 10, § 2; L. 1994, ch. 210, § 1; L. 1998, ch. 130, § 28; L. 2000, ch. 184, § 31; L. 2004, ch. 173, § 18; L. 2012, ch. 135, § 29; L. 2013, ch. 87, § 7; Apr. 25.