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By Kim Dixon
WASHINGTON, Feb 13 (Reuters) - Senate Democrats on Wednesdayintroduced a bill to eliminate billions of dollars in taxbenefits enjoyed by big oil and gas companies, one day afterPresident Barack Obama renewed his call for plugging taxloopholes in his State of the Union address.
Obama and fellow Democrats for years have targeted oil andgas tax breaks, a move that Republicans and some Democrats fromoil-producing states fiercely oppose.
The measure focuses on provisions such as immediateexpensing for drilling costs and the use of a tax break formanufacturing.
A bill to end these benefits died in theDemocratic-controlled Senate last year, with four Democratsvoting to block it. This year's plan is unlikely to move forwardin the Republican-controlled House of Representatives.
Sponsored by Senate Democrat Robert Menendez of New Jerseyand with more than a dozen co-sponsors, the bill would curbbreaks used by the "big five" oil companies: Exxon Mobil Corp, BP Plc, ConocoPhillips, Chevron Corp and Royal Dutch Shell Plc.
Ending the breaks would raise $24 billion over a decade tohelp reduce the federal deficit, its backers say. Some Democratswant to use money to stave off $85 billion in automatic spendingcuts set to kick in on March 1.
"The industry is often thrown out there as a short-termrevenue grab," Brian Johnson, a tax adviser for the AmericanPetroleum Institute, said this week. "You will get revenue inthe short-term. But the long-term economic consequences are adramatic loss of revenue from our industry."
