To kick-start the new decade with "energy," today at 11:45 a.m. EST, I will deliver The State of American Energy from Washington D.C.'s Newseum. I invite you to tune in to the live event via webcast and join the online discussion.

Our energy conversation will begin with a comprehensive new report on the oil and natural gas industry's role in spurring economic growth, creating jobs and providing for our energy security. I will identify ways our industry can play an even greater role in these critical areas with the right choices from our policymakers.

To join, click here or on the image above. Best wishes for a wonderful New Year.

Among the urgent responsibilities awaiting Congress in 2011 is crafting balanced policies that ensure economic growth and job creation. Having sensible energy policies in place is critical to both efforts, but we must start the energy conversation right away. Therefore, on January 4, I will kick-start that discussion during an event at Washington, D.C.'s Newseum.

At the event, I'll unveil a comprehensive new report, The State of American Energy, that provides policy recommendations and an economic analysis to help guide America's future energy policy. I'll also talk about ways the U.S. oil and natural gas industry can help provide a path forward to economic growth, job creation and energy security for our future.

After a year unlike any other in our business, one that saw us face the unpre... more »

Last Friday, API President and CEO Jack Gerard delivered a speech at the Clinton School of Public Service in Little Rock, Arkansas, describing the benefits of oil and natural gas to the American way of life and the economy.

Among his key points were the following:

The U.S. oil and natural gas industry can put Americans back to work.

"With deficits spiraling upwards, nearly 15 million Americans out of work, and stimulus dollars less effective than hoped, increased domestic oil and natural gas development makes more sense now than ever. Many Americans see the value. Oil and natural gas companies would welcome the opportunity. However, government policies will largely determine how much companies are able to increase their investment in U.S. projects and how many a... more »

American ingenuity played a huge role in the rescue of the 33 miners in Chile. While the whole world watched, the miners were pulled from the copper mine through a 28-inch hole drilled by two small U.S. companies.

The T-130 drill, developed by Schramm, Inc. of West Chester, Penn., was used create an opening through 2,200 feet of rock through which the miners could be pulled to the surface. It was delivered to the mine by GeoTech, an Atlanta-based company working in Chile, on a five-vehicle convoy as the miners' families waved flags. (The Wall Street Journal)

Schramm's CEO Ed Breiner called the drilling job "complex," but pledged, "I'm not going to relax until the job is done and the last guy is out." (The Philadelphia Inquirer)

The drill bit used to bore the hole was designed and produced... more »

Few issues are as complicated and perplexing as Peak Oil. The study of this concept crosses into several disciplines--geology, sociology, engineering, and physics to name a few--and each is able to address only a part of the global dilemma that could be caused by rapidly dwindling oil supplies.

Presenters representing these disciplines and more discussed their findings on Peak Oil yesterday at the 2010 Association for the Study of Peak Oil & Gas (ASPO-USA) in Washington. Although they took different approaches in their research, they arrived at similar conclusions: Demand for oil is rising sharply in developing countries; global oil supplies aren't keeping pace with demand; and the consequences could be dire.

Here are a few of the observations offered by speakers at the ASPO conference:

• A... more »