While the White House talks again about raising taxes on oil and natural gas companies, let’s look at a chart that captures the starkly different outcomes – in terms of revenue for government – from two policy paths: higher energy taxes vs. increased energy development:

You read it right: The difference between the two policy choices, in cumulative dollars for government from now until 2030, is more than $1 trillion.

According to a 2011 study by Wood Mackenzie, increased oil and natural gas activity under pro-access policies would generate an additional $800 billion in cumulative revenue for government by 2030. The chart puts into perspective the size of these accumulating revenues – enough to fund entire federal departments at various points along the timeline. By contrast, Wood... more »

Let’s talk oil and natural gas company earnings. Today, three charts that illustrate some of the things we’ve been saying for some time:

• Earnings equal return on investment, which is great news for millions of Americans – the true owners of these companies. (More here from Ken P. Cohen’s Perspectives blog.)
• Oil and natural gas companies are investing in America in a way unsurpassed by other industries.
• America’s oil and natural gas companies pay their fair share – and more – in taxes.

We’ll go in reverse order with the charts. In No. 1, it’s not hard to see which companies on the list of the top earners are paying the highest effective tax rate – they’re the tallest trees in the forest:

Now, No. 2 – tax rates by industry over a five-year period:

The takeaway is... more »

Who’s doubling down on America? Companies in the U.S. oil and natural gas industry, which owned five of the top 11 spots on the Progressive Policy Institute’s list of the top 25 nonfinancial U.S.-based companies, ranked by their 2011 capital spending inside this country:

Kudos to PPI for compiling this interesting list. ExxonMobil ranked No. 3 with $11.7 billion in U.S. capital expenditures and was joined on the list by No. 6 Occidental Petroleum ($6.2 billion), No. 7 ConocoPhillips ($5.6 billion), No. 9 Chevron ($4.8 billion) and No. 11 Hess ($4.4 billion).

It’s more than a novelty or a talking point. The $136.2 billion in capital spending by these companies was a direct input into the U.S. economy. PPI:

"Domestic business investment generates growth, raises productivity, in... more »

A new report conducted on behalf of API by Robert Shapiro of Sonecon, LLC, examines the financial impact of investments in oil and natural gas companies on the overall performance of the two largest public employee pension funds in each of four states - Michigan, Missouri, Ohio and Pennsylvania. The data shows these investments sharply out-performed the funds' other assets.

In this podcast, Shapiro, the former undersecretary of commerce to President Bill Clinton, discusses the new study that builds on a 2007 Sonecon report that showed millions of Americans own oil and natural gas holdings through mutual funds, pensions, and 401(k)s. Only 1.5 percent of holdings are with corporate management.

Use the audio player below to listen to information about the article and follow along with the sho... more »

"Public pensions rely on two major sources for funding -- employee and employer contributions and investment returns. Although the government contributions have recently been the center of political debates in many states, investment assets play a key role in keeping promises made to public employees by providing more than half the funds' revenues." (Reuters 21 Apr 2011)

Investments do play a key role in keeping our promises to public employees and oil and natural gas companies play an important part in those investments. Twenty-seven percent of America's oil and natural gas company shares are held by pension funds, and those holdings are providing a significantly larger return than other assets in state pension plans in Michigan, Missouri, Ohio and Pennsylvania, according to a new stu... more »