API President and CEO Jack Gerard yesterday sent a letter to Interior Department Secretary Ken Salazar, providing the industry's thoughts and concerns about the proposed Ocean Energy Safety Institute (OESI). This new entity, as proposed by the government, would provide a forum for a collaborative government-industry research initiative aimed at improving the safety of U.S. offshore energy development.

In his letter, Jack reiterated the oil and natural gas industry's commitment to improving safety and told the Secretary that API has formed a task force to provide the government with feedback on the OESI proposal. First and foremost, Jack wrote in support of "a collaborative approach" to research and development (R&D) in offshore deepwater drilling safety, containment and oil spill response... more »

In a Tallahassee Democrat op-ed published this week, the Florida Petroleum Council's Dave Mica challenges recent inaccurate claims that oil and natural gas jobs are declining and production off Florida's coast will harm the tourism industry.

Dave argues that the oil and natural gas industry already supports 9.2 million American jobs and is poised to create even more jobs if provided more opportunities to explore and produce domestic oil and natural gas.

Further, energy development doesn't have to come at a price to the environment. Dave says:

"The good news is that Florida does not have to choose between offshore oil and natural gas development and tourism and the environment. State-of-the-art advances in seismic measurements, directional drilling, subsea production and safety systems, alo... more »

Today, the preliminary results of Central Gulf Lease Sale 213, held in New Orleans, were announced.

The sale received 642 bids on 468 leases--34 percent higher than last year's Central Gulf Lease Sale 208--and garnered $949 million in high bids, up from $703 million in last year's sale.

The oil and natural gas industry stands ready to invest in America and create additional new jobs, as evidenced by its strong bidding during the Central Gulf 213 lease sale, in which the industry was able to bid on parcels in several new areas. The sale captured $949 million in high bids, contributing to energy and economic security.

The U.S. government could replicate this success by providing leasing opportunities in unexplored areas of the Outer Continental Shelf--like offshore Virginia, the eastern Gul... more »

Offshore drilling will be on the agenda when Florida's annual legislative session begins tomorrow. No legislation has been introduced yet, but AP reports that resolutions have been introduced to lift drilling bans in federal waters near Florida's coastline.

Although a poll has shown that a majority of Americans support offshore drilling, the debate continues. And last week, a Florida think tank released a new study on Florida's potential energy reserves.

The study acknowledges that natural gas exists in federal waters west of Apalachicola, but it says that the amount of oil estimated in state waters (within three miles of the shoreline only) would boost U.S. oil supplies by only up to 1 percent.

Does that mean drilling proposals should be abandoned? Of course not.

If every soybean farmer... more »