Independent oilmen protest tax bill

Consumers, not oil companies, will be hardest hit if President Carter's proposed $227.7 billion oil windfall profits tax becomes law, a group of independent oil drillers and operators maintain. The group, which left Oklahoma and Texas Wednesday, parked a three-block-long convoy of trucks, oil pumps, and rigs Sunday in a cordoned-off area in front of the Capitol.

Together with independent oil producers and those who receive royalties, the oilmen will meet with energy officials and lobby legislators to protest the proposed bill, due for a final House vote this week. Such a bill, they contend, would put them out of business.