Rather than deal with the Gulf oil spill in a reasoned fashion, the administration and some in Congress have put forth a barrage of political proposals that could jeopardize jobs and domestic energy production, and deal heavy blows to the economy overall.

Seemingly aimed at preventing a similar accident, these proposals--a six-month moratorium, unlimited liability and tax increases--will do nothing to promote offshore drilling safety. Instead, they could threaten hundreds of thousands of U.S. jobs, cost billions in government revenue and royalties, and limit a major part of the nation's energy lifeline.

When asked recently about the most important issue for the federal government to address, people emphatically responded, "jobs" and "the economy." So why are policymakers ignoring what peop... more »

What if Congress and the administration approve many of the deepwater drilling measures that are now being debated? And what if their actions result in unlimited liability for oil spills, additional regulations on well and rig designs, higher taxes and fees and an extended moratorium that cancelled drilling projects?

The economic impacts could be dire.

A new analysis by API economists shows that the moratorium, if continued indefinitely, or similar proposals which would make deepwater development unavailable or uneconomic would cost this country 175,000 jobs every year between now and 2035. Over the long term, it also would reduce U.S. oil production by 27 percent and would likely increase oil imports by 19 percent.

API President and CEO Jack Gerard told reporters today:

"Legislation that... more »

Editor's note: In a Roll Call op-ed that ran today, API President and CEO Jack Gerard urges Congress not to make hasty, legislative and regulatory decisions following the Deepwater Horizon incident that could unfairly penalize oil and natural gas companies. Jack's comments are below:

The oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico has created understandable new concerns over offshore oil and natural gas operations, and Americans are right to demand assurances that offshore operations are safe and not detrimental to our environment.

The oil and natural gas industry understands that, and our pledge from the very beginning has been to work day and night to help BP stop the leak, clean up the spill and find out what happened so we can put in place lasting solutions. Only then can Americans once again have... more »

Voters in ten states oppose higher taxes on America's oil and natural gas industry by a 2-to-1 margin, according to a new poll released today.

The poll, conducted by Harris Interactive for API in ten states, found that 64 percent of registered voters oppose an increase, including 46 percent of voters who strongly oppose.

Only 27 percent support increasing taxes. The poll was conducted via telephone between July 15 and July 18 among 6,000 registered voters.

"Voters know raising taxes on an industry that provides most of their energy and supports more than 9.2 million jobs would hurt them and damage the economy," said API President and CEO Jack Gerard. "Raising taxes doesn't address their major concern, which is putting people back to work."

Both the administration and some members of Congre... more »

There's never a dull moment in the energy business. Check out just a few of the things that have happened during the past few days:

• The administration announced its 2011 budget proposal containing an estimated $80 billion in new taxes on the oil and natural gas industry.

• Reps. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) and Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) introduced legislation to retroactively change the contracts between oil companies and the federal government on some Gulf of Mexico wells. The bottom line: Markey and Van Hollen want to force oil companies to pay about $54 billion to reduce the deficit. (States News Service)

• The Senate Western Caucus criticized the Interior Department's new drilling regulations. In a letter to Interior Sec. Ken Salazar, the caucus stated, "More red tape equals fewer red, white an... more »