You probably know that the oil and natural gas industry is one of the world's largest industries and that its revenues are significant. But did you know that the costs of providing consumers with the energy they need are massive as well?

Revenues allow companies to reinvest in facilities and infrastructure, and keep them on the cutting edge of developing innovative technologies that find energy resources our nation needs, refine them into products we use every day, and deliver them to households and businesses--all while becoming more efficient and reducing environmental impact.

One example of advanced technology and increased efficiency at work in refinery operations is co-generation, a process that captures waste heat and uses it to produce electricity. This process can minimize the refi... more »

Two new independent studies commissioned by the Alberta Energy Research Institute (AERI) have found that emissions from producing, transporting and refining oil sands are not significantly higher than emissions from other forms of crude oil refined in the United States. The studies found that direct greenhouse gas emissions from oil-sands derived crude oils are generally 10 percent higher, but when cogeneration is taken into consideration, the difference disappears.

Cogeneration is the use of a power source to simultaneously produce both electricity and heat. In oil sands production, the heat is used to generate steam, and excess power is either used in oil sands operations or sent to the electrical grid. By including the energy generated by oil sands production in the studies, the finding... more »

The greatest "new" energy source available today is the reduced demand brought about by greater energy efficiency. It's the cleanest, quickest and most cost-effective way to extend today's energy supply into the future. It's wise to practice energy efficiency, and the oil and natural gas industry is doing its part.

In 2003, API member refineries pledged to improve their energy efficiency by 10 percent by 2012. One energy-saving technique is a process called cogeneration, in which the heat produced in the refining process is converted into electricity that helps power the refinery. The energy saved by this process and others in a single year was equivalent to the amount of gasoline consumed by more than 530,000 cars or the electricity used by 950,000 households.

America is more energy effic... more »