Kerr-McGee Corp. v. Wyoming Oil & Gas Conservation Commission

THOMAS, Justice.

The primary issue we address in this case is the limits of the authority of an administrative agency, a creature of the legislature. The question presented is whether the Wyoming Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (Commission) has the authority to deny a statutory two percent excise tax exemption in certifying a tertiary recovery project. The Commission, using ambiguous language, apparently certified the project, which was to be conducted in a production unit that previously had been certified for a tertiary recovery project and had received the benefit of the exemption, but…