API's President Jack Gerard and Devon's CEO and Chairman Larry Nichols called the White House Jobs Summit a "missed opportunity" during a conference call with reporters this morning, and wondered why the oil and natural gas industry was not invited.

America's oil and natural industry employs and supports a total of 9.2 million U.S. jobs. It powers most of the energy that heats U.S. homes, fuels factories and offices, and gets people to home and work. It also adds more than $1 trillion to the national economy.

Yet, Larry said today that despite the fact that the industry asked to attend today's Jobs Summit, he was not aware of anyone from an oil and natural gas trade association or a traditional energy company who had been invited.

With more than 15 million Americans unemployed today, the i... more »

At an event described by one participant as a World Wrestling Federation bout, API's President Jack Gerard discussed proposed climate legislation with members of Congress at the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday evening, Dec.1. The discussion, titled "Climate and Energy Policy: Moving?" was jointly sponsored by API and Newsweek.

In addition to Jack, the event featured Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-ND), Rep. Edward Markey (D-MA), Rep. Fred Upton (R-MI), and Rana Foroohar of Newsweek International, each of whom offered their perspectives on the climate change issue.

Sen. Dorgan said the Senate's bipartisan energy bill passed by the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee could help to resolve many of the nation's energy problems without "delivering a trillion-dollar carbon trading securities market to Wa... more »

The numbers tell the story. The official U.S. unemployment rate stands at 10.2 percent but is believed to be closer to 20 percent. Economic analysts say that the country will pull itself out of the recession, but it's likely unemployment levels could remain high. Meanwhile, as the holidays approach, consumers are pinching pennies and worrying about an uncertain future, which could dampen their holiday festivities as well as the sales expectations of the nation's retailers.

Amidst this gloomy economic picture is one bright spot. As reported by E&E Publishing's Greenwire, the oil and natural gas industry will finish 2009 with the largest one-year gain in domestic oil production in 40 years.

New projects in the deep water Gulf of Mexico and North Dakota's Bakken Shale formation are helping to... more »

In this episode, I interview Tim Felt, CEO of Colonial Pipeline Company, on the safety and reliability of the U.S. pipeline network and his company's impressive safety record.

Today, Colonial celebrates 10 million hours of employees working without a lost work-time injury. This represents more than seven years of employees working safely as they deliver fuels to U.S. consumers.

During this period of time, these pipeline workers have weathered hurricanes, completed major construction projects and excavated thousands of pipeline segments to visually inspect the integrity of the steel pipe.

Use the audio player below to listen to the conversation and follow along with the show notes. I hope you find the podcast informative.

Show Notes:

00:17 Have you ever considered how gasoline and... more »

We've discussed many times on this blog how increased access to oil and natural gas resources would benefit our nation's economy. We've also mentioned that while producing this energy both on-and-offshore, companies are committed to environmentally responsible development.

Yesterday, the Heritage Foundation released a new analysis about both abovementioned points: how offshore energy production benefits the economy and the environment. The paper's author is Bruce Allen, co-founder of SOS California, an environmental and energy non-profit based in Santa Barbara.

Many people are unaware of just how much energy lies off our nation's shorelines. U.S. coastal waters hold tremendous energy potential--at least 19 billion barrels of oil and trillions of cubic of natural gas--but nearly 85 percent... more »