I&#x27;m not sure what you mean by the west doesn&#x27;t tax oil. Just off the top of my head, oil is subject to the following taxes:<p>* Consumer purchases of the final products of oil are heavily taxed (especially in Europe).<p>* Oil companies pay significant income tax. Exxon alone paid over $5.5B, or about 25% of net profit, in taxes last year, while in 2013 they paid closer to 42%. [1]<p>* After they pay income tax, their dividends are taxes again.<p>I&#x27;m sure there are other invisible taxes throughout the production and rights-acquisition process.<p>[1]: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;finance.yahoo.com&#x2F;q&#x2F;is?s=XOM+Income+Statement&amp;annual" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;finance.yahoo.com&#x2F;q&#x2F;is?s=XOM+Income+Statement&amp;annual</a>