“Under cost depletion, the taxpayer in an oil and gas property deducts the basis in the property from the income as oil and gas are produced and sold. Cost depletion is calculated by a formula … [that] relates the recovery of the taxpayer’s investment to the proportion that the current unit sales of oil and gas bear to the total anticipated sales of oil and gas from the property. The investment is recovered ratably over the life of the reserves.” John S. Lowe, Oil and Gas Law in a Nutshell 353 (3d ed. 1995).
cost depletion
cost depletion. Oil & gas. The recovery of an oil-and-gas producer’s basis (i.e., investment) in a producing well by deducting the basis proportionately over the producing life of the well. Treas. Reg. § 1.611–2. Cf. PERCENTAGE DEPLETION .
