“…tonight, I’m directing my administration to open more than 75 percent of our potential offshore oil and gas resources.” -  President Obama 2012 State of the Union

So, 75 percent – that must be good, right?  Well, not exactly.  Let’s take a look at what the Proposed Outer Continental Shelf Oil & Gas Leasing Program 2012-2017 actually provides:

The president wants you to focus on the two numbers on the right, that 77 percent and 78 percent of our potential resources are available.  But the more important number is on the left, showing that only 13 percent of our total outer continental shelf (OCS) acreage is even open to development.  To understand why we need to understand what those oil and natural gas numbers represent – and what they don’t.

What they represent are the un... more »

In the video below API tax policy advisor Brian Johnson explains why rhetoric about oil and natural gas companies benefiting from taxpayer subsidies is just that, rhetoric.

Creating much of the confusion is the way terms like “subsidies” and “deductions” get used interchangeably. Does the oil and natural gas industry benefit from taxpayer subsidies? “Nothing could be further from the truth,” Johnson says. Take a look:

Here’s what the oil and natural gas industry currently means to the state of Florida:

• More than $18 billion contributed to the economy.
• More than $10 billion contributed to labor income.
• More than 230,000 jobs provided or supported by the industry, with an average salary for non-gas station oil and natural gas employees of $61,388.

Even better – here’s what the oil and natural gas industry could mean to Florida with sensible energy development and sound tax policies:

• More than 84,000 additional jobs created by 2015 and more than 131,000 additional jobs created by 2030.
• An average of $1.3 billion of new, additional revenue to the state every year through 2030.

Let’s put that second figure in perspective: An additional $1.3 billion each year would be enough to c... more »

Oil and natural gas opponents think they’ve got some ammunition in a NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll from nearly a year ago showing that 74 percent of Americans support “Eliminating tax credits for the oil and gas industries.”

One problem with the February 2011 poll: There are no targeted tax credits in the Internal Revenue Code currently being used by the oil and natural gas industry.

The inconvenient truth for industry opponents is that contrary to what some politicians and pundits have said oil and natural gas companies currently aren’t receiving any unique tax credits or deductions.

Since its inception, the U.S. tax code has let corporate taxpayers recover costs and be taxed only on net income. These cost-recovery mechanisms shouldn’t be confused with tax credits or “subsidie... more »

Interesting piece by the Washington Post’s Robert Samuelson, analyzing America’s energy future in light of new government figures showing increased domestic oil and natural gas production:

“Despite big gains in energy efficiency and increases in ‘renewables’ (wind, solar, biofuels), fossil fuels will remain the mainstay of America’s energy system for years. In 2010, fossil fuel represented 83 percent of U.S. energy consumption, with oil at 37 percent, natural gas at 25 percent and coal at 21 percent. Although total energy use grows only 10 percent between 2010 and 2035, the fossil-fuel share stays high at 77 percent in 2035. Oil is 32 percent, natural gas 25 percent and coal 20 percent.”

Here’s a chart developed from data in the Energy Information Administration’s early release o... more »