In today’s Wall Street Journal, Merril Matthews debunks the enduring myth of the undertaxed oil company.

…those special tax breaks just for the oil and gas industry don’t exist.

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Ironically, USA Today just published the top-10 list of companies that paid the highest U.S. income taxes as of 2012, and oil industry companies took three of the slots. Number one was Exxon Mobil XOM -0.14% at $31 billion, followed by Chevron CVX +0.25% at $20 billion, and sixth was ConocoPhillips COP -0.66% at $8 billion. That is about $60 billion in taxes among them, more than the other seven companies on the list…combined.

Economist Mark Perry adds to the story.

…the three Big Oil companies in the top ten deserve special recognition as “taxation heroes” for paying more in income taxes than the other seven companies combined, and for paying the highest effective tax rates in the group, by far. Finally, ExxonMobil deserves special recognition as a “taxation hero” for paying $31 billion in income taxes in both 2011 and 2012 and $21.5 billion in 2010, which is about the same or more than the $22.3 billion paid in federal income taxes by the 67.5 million taxpayers that represent the bottom 50% of all American tax filers in 2010.

In another blog post, Perry unmasks Big Corn as the culprit behind rising gas prices.