By The Associated Press Becky Bohrer KTUU

1:24 a.m. EST, January 16, 2013
JUNEAU, Alaska—

Gov. Sean Parnell is proposing an overhaul of Alaska's oil tax structure.
   
He says his plan is simpler and that it's aimed at making the state more competitive and encouraging new oil production.
   
The proposal is expected to be introduced Wednesday.
   
It scraps the progressive surcharge that companies have said is a disincentive to new investment. And it revamps the state's system of tax credits, focusing those incentives on companies that produce oil from new fields on the North Slope.
   
The administration says the plan builds off what it saw as an emerging consensus toward the end of last session to take meaningful steps to encourage production from new fields while also addressing the level of government take at high oil prices.
   
The new legislative session opened Tuesday.