You'd think that with the polls showing the administration is taking the blame for higher gasoline prices, the White House economic team would come up with something better to say to the American people than let's raise energy taxes by eliminating business deductions that historically have helped encourage domestic production. The president laid down his marker this week in a letter to congressional leaders, calling for the elimination of tax breaks he says are worth $4 billion a year. The New York Times reports the administration is targeting a deduction for intangible drilling costs and the oil and gas depletion allowance. Don't be surprised if it looks at other provisions as well.

How does the public feel about this? Let's have a listen:

Over the next few days we'll look at some of t... more »

If you're a regular reader of the EnergyTomorrow blog posts, you've noticed that we've been focusing on a new study this week that quantifies the contributions of oil and natural gas industry stock to state pension plans. On Wednesday, we also hosted a blogger conference call to answer questions and explain the study's findings in more detail. Robert Shapiro, chairman of Sonecon, LLC, and one of the authors of the pension plan study, and Kyle Isakower, API's vice president of regulatory and economic affairs, said the study found that oil and natural gas industry stock substantially out-performed other pension-plan stock holdings during a recent five-year period marked by both a strong economy and the recession.

"If I were the financial manager of the teachers' pension fund in Missouri, I'd... more »

Energy companies are reporting their quarterly financials this week, which is providing fodder for those who prefer to play politics rather than enact good policies. The typical line we hear from politicians is that company earnings are proof that a fair share is not being given to government, but focusing on just the bottom line obscures the true picture. Let's take one release as an example.

We see that ConocoPhillips reported first-quarter earnings of $3.0 billion or $2.09 per share. But a look at the full release shows that this $3.0 billion comes on total revenues of $58.25 billion - a 5.18% return. In other words, ConocoPhillips works hard for their money. We also see that ConocoPhillips paid $4.36 billion in taxes other than income taxes and paid or accrued $2.75 billion in income t... more »

ExxonMobil's Perspectives: ExxonMobil's Earnings: The Real Story You Won't Hear in Washington: Big numbers make headlines - like our announcement of $10.7 billion in earnings for the first quarter of 2011. What may not make the headlines is the context surrounding that number, so I thought I would share with you what I told reporters following the announcement: When crude oil prices increase it means higher earnings for oil companies, and more importantly for most Americans - higher gasoline prices. Rising crude and gasoline prices have a very real impact on household budgets across the nation. Gasoline is an essential product, and price rises are felt by families and businesses alike. Let me start by putting our earnings into context for U.S. motorists. ExxonMobil's earnings are from oper... more »

Washington Examiner: Five Big Reasons to Drill, Baby, Drill: There are five compelling reasons why the next Congress should not renew the decades-old congressional ban on drilling for domestic oil and natural gas in areas now considered off-limits, according to a new study: Jobs, revenue, economic growth, public demand, and energy independence. Developing U.S. domestic energy resources would create up to 160,000 new high-paying American jobs, including 5 million "green" jobs, and generate $1.7 trillion in new royalties for federal and state governments. Since the energy industry is one of the few bright spots in the U.S. economy, it could help pull the rest of the nation out of recession. Sixty-eight percent of Americans say they want more domestic drilling, according to exit polls. Finall... more »