Ha! I wonder if the Senator knows this is one of the few ways to get oil producers to put holes in the ground in a very hydrocarbon-hostile environment?
Turn those pesky profits into exploration expenses, et voilà!
From Reuters via Yahoo Finance:
U.S. Senate Finance Committee chair Ron Wyden is planning to introduce legislation setting a 21% surtax on oil company profits considered excessive, an aide for the senator told Reuters.
The bill applies a 21% additional tax on the excess profits of oil and gas companies with more than $1 billion in annual revenue, the aide said. The 21% tax would be in addition to any regular income tax due. Profits over 10% would be considered excessive under the bill, according to the aide.
Unlike other proposed windfall profit taxes, the aide said, Wyden's would apply the tax based on profit margins, not oil prices. Companies making normal profits based on their expenses would not pay any additional tax....
....MORE
He must know.