Recently, the administration sent Congress a budget proposal that included at least $400 billion in new taxes and fees on the oil and natural gas industry--a plan that will put an economic burden on hard-working Americans and their families.

Raising taxes in a time of economic decline is a recipe for disaster. These taxes are anti-jobs, anti-consumer, and anti-energy. They would be felt throughout the economy. Historically, new taxes have discouraged business expansion and job creation, and have led to higher costs for consumers--taking money from American households.

Higher taxes also would depress investment in new domestic oil and natural gas projects and hurt the six million American workers supported by the industry.

We need to get our nation on the road to economic recovery, and new... more »

In a conference call with reporters today, API President and CEO Jack Gerard said the Waxman-Markey bill to reduce greenhouse gas emissions is "unacceptable as drafted." He said the bill's potential economic impact cannot be overstated and called on Congress to conduct a thorough analysis.

Jack pointed to three provisions that should be addressed. First, the cap-and-trade allowances must be equitable "as we transition to a carbon-constrained economy." As he explained, various industrial sectors would be held responsible for their carbon emissions and those of their customers. If a sector is to be held responsible for 10 percent of the carbon, the sector should receive 10 percent of the allowances under the cap-and-trade system. The bill now stipulates that refiners would receive only 2 per... more »

Members of Congress trying to hammer out a bill to reduce greenhouse gas emissions have reached agreement on the distribution of valuable carbon dioxide permits. As reported in the San Francisco Chronicle, more than 50 percent of the emission allowances will be donated to electric-power distributors, automakers and other industries. Only 2 percent of allowances will go to refiners.

API President and CEO Jack Gerard responded to these developments saying that "while the proposal is meant to solve a serious environmental challenge and spur growth in our weak economy, its inequitable system of allocations will have a disproportionate adverse impact on consumers and producers of gasoline, diesel fuel, jet fuel, crude oil and natural gas." He goes on to mention that the bill's goals are admirab... more »

I like baseball. I particularly like the fact that baseball fans can quote statistics and recall spectacular games that occurred more than a century ago. For example, according to Baseball-Reference.com, did you know that on this day in 1901 the Washington Senators achieved the first shutout in American League history with Watty Lee pitching a 4-0 game to the Boston Americans?

API collects statistics, too, and some of them track gasoline prices at the pump all the way back to 1918.

Here are some facts from API's weekly Pump Price Update for May 13, 2009:

• In March 1918, motorists paid $1.417 per gallon for regular gasoline.In current dollars (March 2009), this is equivalent to spending $3.406 today.
• The average U.S. retail price for a gallon of regular gasoline today is $2... more »

If you're looking for a key indicator to illustrate the weakness in the U.S. economy, just look at oil demand. API's Monthly Statistical Report shows that total oil product deliveries (a measure of demand) in January-April 2009 were the lowest since 1998.

Here are some additional figures that provide some insight into the economy:

• Oil product demand was 3.6 percent lower in April than during the same month a year ago;
• Although gasoline consumption rose slightly in April, all other product deliveries fell;
• Domestic inventories of crude oil rose by 11 million barrels in April and have risen nearly 80 million barrels since last summer--for the largest increase in a similar period in more than 80 years;
• Gasoline imports, while lower than a year ago in April, are still at near-record levels fo... more »