North Dakota Top Court Denies Drilling Company Sales Tax Refund

Equinor Energy LP was denied a sales tax refund by the North Dakota Supreme Court because the company’s separators don’t qualify for an exemption for certain oil and gas drilling equipment.

Tangible personal property must compress or gather gas recovered from an oil or gas well to qualify for the exemption, the high court said, affirming a lower court’s ruling. Equinor’s separators, which isolate oil, water, and gas from each other, do not fit this description, the July 5 opinion said.

• “The separators merely isolated the three component parts of the well stream,” Chief Justice Jon J. Jensen said
• Gathering ...