The New York Times reports Americans' attitudes toward offshore oil and natural gas development has been generally supportive the past couple of years. What a contrast with the shifts in drilling policy from the administration in Washington!

No surprise the public feels this way. Americans get the basic economics of gasoline prices - that is, the link between the cost of crude oil and prices at the gas pump. Developing domestic energy supplies simply makes sense.

The Times reports:

• A Gallup poll taken immediately after the Macondo accident last year showed 50 percent of Americans still supported offshore drilling, while 46 percent opposed. Less than a year later, in March, the public's drilling support had risen to 60 percent, with 37 percent opposed..
• Public support for offshore drilling... more »

Here's a Friday look at some of the ways oil and natural gas are making life better across the country:

Hey, Minnesota! - The Minneapolis Star Tribune reports that North Dakota has 17,000 job openings - most of them related to its booming oil and natural gas and coal mining activities - and is trolling for workers in neighboring Minnesota. "We are in such a wonderful position over here right now," said North Dakota Commerce Commissioner Alan Anderson. "But we have a 3.3 percent unemployment rate. ... So we have to either get some more folks coming back home or get more coming across the state line to share in the opportunities." North Dakota is the country's fourth-largest oil producer, which is driving economic activity in other areas. Hardware stores, big box retailers and apartments are... more »

Myths can be stubborn - sometimes more stubborn than the facts themselves. Tax treatment of the oil and natural gas industry is Exhibit A.

API Tax Policy Manager Stephen Comstock set the record straight after an Ogden (Utah) Standard-Examiner editorial failed to recognize that oil and natural gas companies are taxed at a higher effective rate than other companies, paying more than their fair share of taxes.

"You're way off base suggesting the nation's major oil and natural gas companies don't already pay their fair share of taxes. ... They pay millions of dollars a day in income taxes at higher effective rates than most other companies. They also receive none of the grants, guaranteed loans and price supports provided to other industries."

Similarly, API Upstream Director Erik Milito took... more »

Paging through some of the positive ways the oil and natural gas industry is helping the economy as well as individual lives across the country:

A story in the San Antonio Express- News notes that just two years ago Dimmit County in South Texas was ranked as the 19th-poorest county in the United States. Today it's part of a drilling boom in the 400-mile-long Eagle Ford shale formation that's home to thousands of new oil wells and creating thousands of jobs. Last year Eagle Ford generated 6,800 full-time jobs and paid $311 million in salaries in benefits, according to a study. The same report showed another 12,600 spinoff jobs paying $512 million in salaries. By 2020 Eagle Ford is projected to support almost 68,000 full-time jobs, account for almost $21.5 billion in total economic output a... more »

Our industry's longstanding commitment to safe operations was questioned by some after last year's tragic spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Today, we have more than 20 industry groups working concurrently on improving spill prevention and response. Oil companies are committing resources in the form of dollars, time and expertise to ensure that these improvements are implemented.

In March, we announced the creation of the Center for Offshore Safety. It will bring our best minds and expertise together to help operators strive for and maintain the highest levels of safety performance across the entire industry.

We have worked hard to meet the requirements for resuming operations in the Gulf. That's important because we need those energy resources, both today and in the future. Oil and natural gas... more »