Merit Energy’s Oil Moving Falls Outside Wyoming Tax Exemption

Merit Energy Co. isn’t entitled to a $3 million Wyoming sales tax exemption on electricity it bought from PacifiCorp to move oil from wellheads to a point of sale, the state high court ruled Tuesday.

The exemption for companies “engaged in the transportation business” is limited to entities “uniquely employed in the commercial enterprise of moving goods or products from one place to another,” Justice Robert C. Jarosh wrote for the unanimous court. Merit’s activity is better described as “part of the crude oil production process,” the court said.

The ruling puts some limits on the state’s otherwise oil-and-gas friendly ...