According to the IRS memo, tar sands oil is not considered "crude oil." Tar sands oil is in the category of dlibit (shale oil, liquids from coal, tar sands, or biomass) What does this mean? It means the legal definition of dilbit has exempted Exxon from paying into the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund, (OSLTF) which will be the national fund used to clean up the Arkansas tar sands oil spill.
This isn't a new issue. In a discussion last July, Esa Ramasamy, an editorial director at Platts, a global energy, petrochemicals and metals information provider, said the 1980 definition of crude oil dates back to a time when it wasn't financially feasible to produce tar sands oil on a large scale. The first sizeable shipments of dilbit into the U.S. didn't occur until 1999.
"Tar sands production is now a huge industry," he said, and Congress didn't expect that when the tax was created.
Other environmental watchdogs, including Anthony Swift, have debated the crude oil definition and exemption.
"The key issue is, is tar sands crude oil?…When it comes to taxes, the industry gets to make the argument that tar sands isn't crude oil," said Swift, an attorney for the Natural Resources Defense Council who has spent years advocating for better pipeline safety. "But when it comes to the safety of moving tar sands in pipelines, they say it's just like crude oil."
Swift said the exemption is particularly galling because dilbit is more corrosive to pipelines than conventional crude—something that the industry disputes. He believes it would probably take an act of Congress to remove the current exemption.
rest http://www.addictinginfo.org/2013/04/05/its-a-dirty-job-but-exxons-not-gonna-pay-for-it-because-they-dont-feel-like-it/
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