- Utah leaders announce a partnership with the petroleum industry to increase fuel supply.
- The agreement aims to boost refinery production as lawmakers consider 15% cut to the gas tax.
- Idaho and Utah collaborate on Bear River water management, resolving a feud between the states over an earlier proposed export tax.
SALT LAKE CITY — State leaders announced a partnership with the petroleum industry that they say will increase fuel supply, lower gas prices and resolve an ongoing feud with Idaho.
The announcement comes after weeks of tension between Utah and Idaho leaders over a plan floated by Utah lawmakers to tax fuel exports. Officials in Idaho said that could have raised gas prices there.
Instead of taxing exports, the Legislature plans to cut the state gas tax by 15% while working with the oil and gas industry to increase the supply of fuel at Utah's refineries, House Speaker Mike Schultz, R-Hooper, announced Monday.
"If you want lower prices, you have to increase supply. It's that simple," Schultz said. "This agreement will bring in nearly 800,000 additional gallons of fuel into the market every single day, boosting competition and putting real downward pressure on prices at the pump."
At the same time, leaders in Idaho have tentatively agreed to work to increase water supply on the Bear River system, which runs through Idaho, Wyoming and Utah. Gov. Spencer Cox signed a memorandum of understanding about that during a press conference at the state Capitol. Idaho Gov. Brad Little was expected to sign it soon, a spokesperson said.
"We are at a critical crossroads in Utah's energy and water future and we are choosing an abundance mindset over managing scarcity," the governor said. "This partnership not only benefits Utahns, but it will benefit the entire Intermountain region."
He said industry leaders have committed to increase refinery production in Utah by 23,500 barrels of oil per day within the next five years. The state is also investing in fuel storage to help meet seasonal demand and infrastructure to aid production and delivery of fuel, Cox added.
The agreement with Idaho won't secure any new water rights in the Bear River system, but will let both states work together on managing excess flows and water sustainability.
"We have so much in common — probably more in common with Idaho than any other neighbor out there — and so I'm grateful that the relationship is coming out even stronger," Cox told reporters.
Meanwhile, the proposal to cut the gas tax, HB575, is moving through the Legislature in the final weeks of the session. Besides slashing the tax, the bill also requires refineries to report to the state how many barrels of oil and other petroleum products they produce. It also aims to make it easier to build pipelines in the state that would increase the supply of gasoline.
The bill, sponsored by Rep. Cal Roberts, R-Draper, was unanimously approved by a House committee last week and is awaiting a vote in the full House of Representatives.
Rikki Hrenko-Browning, the president of the Utah Petroleum Association, said "tightening supplies" in the fuel market has led to some higher prices.
"We stand together with state leadership to reaffirm our commitment to the state, to our neighbors and to our customers," she said. "We look forward to working together to grow Utah to become an energy leader across the Intermountain West."
