Landrieu says Louisiana doesn't get "one single penny" from offshore drilling

Louisiana gets "not one single penny" from Gulf Coast offshore oil revenues.
Mary Landrieu on Tuesday, May 11th, 2010 in an interview with MSNBC's Ed Schultz

Condensed story from 2009 Pulitzer prize winner, Politifact.com Click here for Full Story.

Mary Landrieu is a Democratic U.S. Senator from Louisiana.

Landrieu, who has often been an advocate for the energy industry in the Senate, told the liberal talk show host,Ed Schultz, "I can promise you, no one's going to let the industry skid. We're going to make BP pay. And, I might say, and you know because you've heard me say this before, when will America realize that the Gulf Coast states need revenue-sharing? Do you know how much money the federal treasury gets from this industry every year? An average of $5 billion. Do you know how much money Louisiana gets? Not one single penny."

It's a bit complicated, but the truth is the state makes millions. Here's the breakdown:

• For the first 3 miles out from the shoreline, Louisiana -- like other states -- gets to keep 100 percent of any royalties produced by oil and gas drilling. In the most recent year available, 2008, this amounted to $275 million.

• Between 3 and 6 miles from the shoreline -- a federally owned band formally known as the 8(g) area -- the federal government sends 27 percent of the royalties to Louisiana. The reasoning is that federal drilling in this area sucks out some of the oil from deposits that span the 3-mile dividing line between state and federal ownership, so these payments are meant to compensate for the lost revenue to states. In 2009, they totaled $22 million and they're estimated to be $32 million this year.

• Beyond 6 miles from the shoreline is considered federal territory. For new drilling projects, states get a 37.5 percent share directly to their treasuries and an additional 12.5 percent for state land and water conservation fund projects. The 37.5 percent figure alone amounted to $6.3 million for Louisiana's treasury in 2009, with additional estimated amounts of $558,000 in 2010 and $476,000 in 2011.

The grand total that Louisiana receives in a typical year is difficult to compute because of big variations in oil prices and other factors, but it's safe in saying it's in the tens of millions of dollars every year, and depending on how you slice the numbers, possibly hundreds of millions of dollars. Either way, it's not accurate to say that Louisiana received "not one single penny," as Landrieu did.


So Mary Landrieu --- Are you Kidding?