Exxon Corp. v. United States

In this case of offshore drilling operations, the majority of the court by affirming and adopting the trial judge’s recommended decision allows as intangible drilling and development costs (“IDC”) those costs incurred in fabricating-offshore drilling platforms (“platforms”), moving them to location and making them operational. I, however, would allow only the latter two groups of expenditures to qualify for the IDC option, denying the option to those costs incurred in fabricating the component parts (e.g., templets)21 of the drilling platform.

With relation to the IDC problem before us, I…