This week's episode focuses on the recent PricewaterhouseCoopers study regarding the impact of the oil and natural gas industry on the U.S. economy. As the study shows, the industry supports 9.2 million workers and contributes more than $1 trillion to the economy. Art Wiese, API's policy analysis manager, discusses the findings with me.

Use the audio player below to listen to information on the study and follow along with the show notes. Also below, you can read the full study. I hope you find the podcast informative.

Show Notes:

00:18 Have you noticed how news reports quantify the importance of an industry to the U.S. economy? For example, in many news articles about the ongoing health care debate, reporters often say that health care is a multi-billion dollar business that makes... more »

Today is your last chance to write to the government to support the Five-Year offshore drilling plan. At the close of business today, the Minerals Management Service (MMS) will end the public comment period, tally the emails and letters, write a report on its findings, and help the Secretary of the Interior decide whether to implement the government's offshore drilling plan.

The plan identifies existing and new offshore areas that could be opened to leasing. If it moves forward, leases in the Eastern Gulf of Mexico, the Atlantic and Pacific could be made available to the highest bidders in a lease sale. Only then can companies explore for oil and natural gas in leased areas--and if commercially viable quantities are discovered--start producing energy.

The United States needs all of the ene... more »

Yesterday, API hosted bloggers for a conference call focusing on the status of upcoming energy legislation and API's current legislative priorities. API President and CEO Jack Gerard took questions from the bloggers, along with API experts John Felmy, Doug Morris and Kyle Isakower. Topics discussed included the Waxman-Markey bill and access to domestic reserves of oil and natural gas.

The bloggers on the call included:

• Byron King, Whiskey and Gunpowder
• Gail Tverberg, The Oil Drum
• Geoff Styles, Energy Outlook
• Lew Waters, Right in a Left World
• Nan Swift, FreedomTalks
• Robert Rapier, R-Squared

Listen to the audio of the call using the player and follow along with the transcript below.

September 17 Blogger Call: Waxman-Markey Bill

The Environmental Law Institute and the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars released a study today examining federal subsidies (direct subsidies, tax preferences and loan guarantees) to traditional fossil fuels and renewables.

In response, however, I would like to point out that assertions that oil and natural gas companies receive subsidies through programs like the Highway Trust Fund, the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program and the Strategic Petroleum Reserve are ludicrous. This study is an irresponsible rendition based on a contorted recycling of government data that should never be used to craft national policy - especially a tax increase on the oil and natural gas industry that would raise energy costs and kill jobs.

Do the authors mean to suggest that LIHEAP, which... more »

Did you know that the top economist at the U.S. Treasury believes the United States is producing too much oil and natural gas?

As Alan Krueger recently told a Senate panel, the United States has an "overproduction of oil and natural gas" because U.S. tax policies encourage "an over investment in domestic resources in this industry." Krueger said taxes should be raised on the oil and natural gas industry to make it more "efficient" and to meet the administration's goal of reducing the consumption of fossil fuels.

It doesn't take a government economist to understand the impact of Krueger's words. Common sense indicates that by raising taxes, the government would raise the cost of doing business. And as costs rise, companies have less capital to grow their businesses and hire more workers.

No... more »