Ft. Worth Basin Oil & Gas Magazine

Energy lenders still doing business despite industry slowdown

When times are tough for oil and gas businesses, it doesn’t necessarily mean times are also tough for energy lenders. In fact, some energy lenders are doing quite well and continue to seek out new customers.

For example, Coppermark Bank (www.coppermarkbank.com) in May closed a $5 million loan with a new energy customer looking to do some additional drilling, according to Bob Holmes, senior vice president of commercial and energy lending at Coppermark. Coppermark Bank is an independently-owned regional financial services company with banking centers in Texas and Oklahoma....
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Oil and gas industry using advertising educational programs to fight negative image

Professionally-produced color newspaper advertisements, special Web sites and even broadcast radio and television spots are now carrying messages aimed at informing the general public about how the domestic oil and gas industry is good for the United States. At a time when the U.S. energy industry seems to be under attack from all sides, state and national energy associations and their members, along with individuals in the business, are now using advertising, marketing and public relations to help educate the public and improve the industry’s image.

James Beck, chairman of the nonprofit Foundation for Energy Education (www.foundationforenergyeducation.org), an affiliate of the Texas Alliance of Energy Producers (Alliance), said his eyes were opened about the public’s negative attitudes regarding the oil and gas industry back in 2005 when the Alliance first conducted a statewide poll to gauge public opinion in Texas about the industry....
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President’s budget proposes substantial changes for business taxation

Deloitte Center for Energy Solutions Oil & Gas Tax Update
Provided by Jeffery Wright and the Deloitte Tax Policy Group

More than two months after releasing its FY 2010 budget blueprint and a week after unveiling a set of provisions to reform the international tax rules, the Obama administration on May 11 provided a comprehensive description of its tax proposals for the coming fiscal year, including some 40 new provisions ranging from additional penalties or information reporting to dramatic new tax increases on businesses.

Overall, the new details reinforce the fundamental structure of the administration’s prior statements on taxation: tax cuts for working families; tax increases for businesses and upper-income individuals, reform of international tax rules, and closing of perceived corporate loopholes....
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