If you've been watching the Olympics and a few other programs on television recently, it's quite possible you've seen API's most recent ads. Nick Snow of the Oil & Gas Journal saw the ads and wrote a column about API's advertising and outreach efforts.

Nick's editorial focuses on the ads about the administration's proposed 2011 budget that would slap new taxes on the industry. As Nick observed, "The messages are brief and simple. They feature everyday people saying new taxes of any kind don't make sense during a recession."

Nick also said the ads are a "nice step" beyond the newspaper ads we've placed during the past several years.

We invite you to visit our YouTube channel, watch the ads and send us your comments.

Bruce Allen, a physicist from Santa Barbara, California, is a man on a mission. As co-founder of SOS California (Stop Oil Seeps California), he came to Washington this week to deliver a message that he believes could change the debate over offshore energy development.

Bruce says offshore oil production is good for the environment.

During the past few years, Bruce has combed through numerous papers and studies, including some from the National Academy of Sciences. His research shows that naturally-occurring oil seeps in the ocean floor are leaking 70,000 to 80,000 barrels of oil into California's coastal waters every year along an 80-mile stretch of the state's shoreline.

How do you lessen the environmental impact of the oil? Bruce says you drill for it and refine it into useful products f... more »

Today, a Department of Justice court filing outlined another in a long line of delays in the Minerals Management Service's filing of court-ordered analysis on the potential environmental impacts of leasing in the Alaska Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) during the current (2007-2012) five year plan.

We are disappointed MMS has again missed a deadline to provide the court with the analysis it ordered last April. This will delay investment decisions, the production of much-needed oil and natural gas and the creation of much-needed jobs.

In his State of the Union address, President Obama stated that there are "tough choices" to be made on offshore oil and gas development. The oil and natural gas industry stands as a ready partner in making the right choice-to create jobs while safely producing do... more »

The Commonwealth of Virginia has signaled that it's ready for offshore energy development.

This week the state Senate passed a proposal that provides a roadmap for the allocation of offshore energy royalties and revenues, devoting 70 percent to transportation, 20 percent to alternative energy research and 10 percent to local governments.

After the Senate voted 21 to 19 to approve the plan, Gov. Robert F. McDonnell said, "There is bipartisan consensus on this issue," adding, "Offshore energy development has the support of this administration, the Democratic state Senate, the Republican House of Delegates, and U.S. Sens. Mark Warner (D) and Jim Webb (D)."

Separately on Tuesday, Virginia Beach's City Council voted 8-3 in favor of offshore exploration and production, citing the importance of... more »

A few days ago, two members of Congress launched an investigation into the energy development practice known as hydraulic fracturing. Reps. Henry Waxman (D - Calif.) and Edward Markey (D - Mass.) sent letters to eight hydraulic-fracturing companies to request information on the substances used in the process.

Fracking, as it's often called, forces water, sand and small amounts of chemicals--including a surfactant similar to dishwashing liquid--into oil and natural gas wells to create cracks in hard rock formations. The cracks allow the oil and natural gas to escape from the rock and flow up the wellbore.

Fracking has been used in about one million wells during the past six decades and is widely used today in shale formations, such as the Marcellus Shale which is believed to be one of the w... more »