The future is going to require a lot of energy, of all kinds. World energy consumption is projected to grow nearly 50 percent by 2035. Renewable energy is projected to increase by nearly 200 percent by 2035 over 2008, thanks to leadership and investment from our own industry and others.

As energy needs grow, our energy supplies will need to grow with them. That will include a robust renewable energy sector. But the Energy Information Administration projections show that renewables will meet only about 13 percent of the nation's energy needs in 2035, with oil and natural gas supplying about 55 percent. For the sake of our future, we need renewable energy technology to grow. But, for the sake of our economy, oil and natural gas will remain a key part of our energy sector for decades to come.... more »

Eighteen oil and natural gas companies had reported their third quarter 2009 earnings as of yesterday afternoon, and the results have been a mixed bag. Companies that focus on oil and natural gas production--also called the upstream sector of the business--experienced a better financial quarter than large integrated companies that have both upstream and downstream operations--refining and marketing. The companies that fared worst are in the downstream portion of the business, and some of them actually lost money.

The chart below puts the companies' earnings in perspective.

At this writing, the oil and natural gas industry in the third quarter of 2009 is averaging earnings of 5.8 cents per dollar of sales. That's far below the Dow Jones Industrial companies, which are averaging 9.7 cents o... more »

Yesterday, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar announced that a second round of oil shale research and development on leases with vastly diminished potential commercial acreage will resume.

Secretary Salazar's decision is a positive step in the process of developing the innovation and technology needed to bring production from the nation's vast oil shale resources to American consumers.

However, we are concerned with some of the new second-round lease terms--specifically the decision to reduce by 87 percent the total potential commercial lease size. Slashing the size of the potential commercial lease diminishes the incentives for investment and ignores the enormous up-front costs and risks undertaken to develop these technologically complex resources.

Oil shale deposits in the Green River forma... more »

Today, U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar announced that he would terminate the Royalty-in-Kind (RIK) program, which collected $6.6 billion in oil and gas deliveries in fiscal 2008, and is one of the government's largest sources of non-tax revenue. The program is an effective means of ensuring that the American people receive fair compensation for development of federal resources.

Terminating this straight-forward method of handling royalty payments runs the risk of raising administrative costs and adding additional layers of paperwork required to determine the value of oil and gas production. The Minerals Management Service itself noted administrative efficiencies brought on by the program, and pointed out that another benefit of RIK is the reduction in costly lawsuits tied to product va... more »

This week, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper will visit the United States, and high on the agenda in discussions with President Obama should be our country's energy partnership with Canada.

The prime minister's visit underscores the importance of developing more of North America's oil and natural gas. Even with additional alternative energy, continued development of oil and natural gas is of utmost importance to both Canada and the United States as these resources will continue to drive our economies and provide employment for millions. Canada's ample resources--including its oil sands--will help meet our future demand.

With this in mind, U.S. refiners are investing huge sums to expand and upgrade plants to make more fuel from Canadian oil sands while subject to strict federal, state... more »