Put yourself in this situation. You decide to build your Dream Home. You buy the perfect lot, hire a general contractor and receive your first shipment of lumber. Then, just as the cement truck is preparing to pour the foundation, you learn that there's been a legal glitch--you might not own the lot after all. What would you do? You've already spent a sizable amount of money, and you don't know whether you'll ever be able to build your house.

Several oil and natural gas companies have found themselves in similar situations. In recent months, they've attended lease sales held by the federal government, submitted sealed bids to lease certain parcels of land in the Gulf of Mexico, and the companies that won leases gave the government billions of dollars to start exploring for oil and natural... more »

Individuals who oppose U.S. oil and natural gas development often cite the following sentence: "The United States represents 5 percent of the world's population but uses 25 percent of the world's energy."

Ouch. That sentence makes all of us appear to be wasteful, slothful, and uncaring about the environment. But like a lot of other statements created to appeal to our sensitivities, it exaggerates the truth and leaves out some very important facts.

According to the 2009 U.S. Statistical Abstract, the United States is home to about 4.5 percent of the world's people. And an examination of other pertinent statistics shows it makes no sense to suggest that U.S. energy consumption can be attributed to each American individually. The United States is a global economic powerhouse using energy to p... more »

Last week, I had the pleasure of hosting 15 bloggers on a conference call about the challenges of deepwater exploration and the impact of these projects on the U.S. economy.

The conversation featured Robert N. (Bobby) Ryan, Jr., vice president of global exploration for Chevron Global Upstream & Gas and also included API Chief Economist John Felmy and API Federal Relations Director Mark Kibbe.

Bloggers who participated in the call include:

• Alan Stewart Carl, Donklephant
• Bob McCarty, Bob McCarty Writes
• Brian Westenhaus, New Energy and Fuel
• Bruce McQuain, The QandO Blog
• Buster Cagney, The Oil Drum
• Chris Nelder, GetRealList
• David Murphy, The Oil Drum
• Devil's Advocate, Right Wing News
• Geoff Styles, Energy Outlook
• Jim Hoft, Gateway Pundit
• Joy McCann, Little Miss Attila
• Krystle, Bearing Drift an... more »