President Obama proposes to rescind $40 billion in oil and natural gas tax breaks as part of a $467 billion package of savings and offsets to pay for his $447 billion jobs bill, which was to be sent to Congress late Monday.

“There are a number of oil and gas provisions, which collectively raise $40 billion. With the enactment of these provisions, [they] would treat the oil and gas industry like other industries” by taking away “the special preference,” said Jack Lew, director of the White House’s Office of Management and Budget in a briefing Monday.

Ending oil and gas tax breaks to help create new jobs “is not a hard choice” for most Americans, Lew told reporters. The legislative language of the president’s jobs bill also was to be forwarded to Capitol Hill Monday.

The president’s proposal to nix oil and gas tax will face steep opposition in Congress. The Obama administration has tried to repeal the tax preferences in the past three years, but has been unsuccessful (see Daily GPI, April 27; Sept. 14, 2010).

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