Export-Bound Crude Oil Exempt From Local Taxes, Texas Court Says

Millions of barrels of crude oil stored in a Texas county are exempt from local property taxes because they are constitutionally protected exports, a state appeals court held Thursday.

The Texas Thirteenth Court of Appeals sided with two international trading companies, Gunvor USA LLC and Devon Gas Services LP, an agent for Glencore Ltd. The court held that crude oil stored at coastal tank farms for overseas shipment was being transported, so the oil has “bright-line immunity” from state taxation under the US Constitution’s Import-Export Clause.

Justice Ysmael D. Fonseca cited the “stream of export” doctrine, which exempts exports ...