DALLAS - Falling oil and gas revenues remained a drag on Oklahoma's revenues in April, but the Sooner State managed a slight 0.5% increase to $1.32 billion, according to state Treasurer Ken Miller.
"These numbers indicate Oklahoma's economy is still thriving, but growth is more subdued than during the past few years," Miller said. "Due to April's tax filing deadline, income tax collections provided a boost to the bottom line to counter the impact of falling gross production tax receipts."
Income tax collections in April provided more than 50% of total revenue, and were up by more than $53 million, or 8.2%, from April 2014.
Collections from gross production taxes on oil and natural gas dropped by more than 54%, to $33.2 million in April, the lowest level in 12 years. April collections come from February oil field production, when crude oil sold for $50.58 per barrel and natural gas was set at $2.96 per thousand cubic feet.
The April drop in oil and gas revenues was sharper than March's 48% decline.
Gross production collections are affected by both price and production volume, Miller said. Indications are that production is being scaled back. The Baker Hughes report on drilling activity for the first week in May shows 108 oil wells are in development, down by 70 wells, or 39%, from a year ago. Notably, gas wells in development are at zero this week, compared to 17 in May 2014.
Motor vehicle tax collections were also down in April by more than 11%, while sales tax collections increased by about 1%.
Collections during the past 12 months show two major revenue sources with lower collections than during the previous 12 months -- gross production and motor vehicles tax receipts, Miller said. The April report marks the first time since September 2013 that two major revenue sources have had lower collections than during the trailing 12-month period.
Oklahoma's unemployment rate in March was set at 3.9% for a fourth, consecutive month. That compares to a national rate of 5.5%. March unemployment in the Oklahoma City metro was set at 3.3%, tied with Austin, Texas, as the lowest rate for metropolitan areas with a population of 1 million or more.
