Results tagged “oil”

Thousands of people from all walks of life are expected to participate in rallies for jobs and the economy tomorrow, Sept. 1. They will gather at three venues in Houston, Port Arthur and Corpus Christi, Texas, where they will make their voices heard.

Some of the attendees are likely to be energy workers whose jobs are on the line due to the offshore drilling moratorium and the threat of higher energy taxes. But they won't be the only people who attend.

In related news today:

This year the nation is facing a similar situation. The United States is struggling to overcome the worst recession since The Great Depression, and economists say the sputtering recovery is not producing new jobs. Some 15 million Americans are out of work.

"The Recovery Act: Transforming the American Economy Through Innovation" claims that spending has put the United States "on track" to:

• Double domestic renewable energy generation capacity by 2012;
• Cut solar power costs in half by 2015; and
• Cut electric vehicle battery costs by half by 2013.

Rarely does anyone write about oil's benefits to the health, prosperity and well being of people all over the globe. It was refreshing, therefore, to read a recent study by Indur Goklany who says oil and other carbon-based fuels should be credited with saving millions of lives.

A year ago, API helped to organize rallies in more than 20 states and invited Americans to submit videos, many of which were shown on large screens during the rallies. Ron of New Bloomfield, Mo., provided his thoughts in this video:

After taking a series of potshots at the American Petroleum Institute in his Sunday column ("Big Oil has it backward," Page D1), Loren Steffy closes with: "We need to proceed cautiously with new drilling and move quickly to draft new regulations that are broad and flexible enough to raise drilling standards without stifling a vital energy source."

American citizens have plenty to worry about. With 15 million workers in unemployment lines, family budgets under pressure, and higher taxes looming on the horizon, Americans from all walks of life are feeling insecure and wondering about their children's futures.

Interestingly, the poll also shows 64 percent of Democrats say the drilling freeze should continue, while 66 percent of Republicans favor removing the moratorium.

"I am officially announcing that API will host additional citizen rallies starting early next month in conjunction with other local and national groups.  We'll be taking the lead on the rallies, but we are partnering with local energy and business groups in every location.  We're kicking off the program with three rallies in Texas on September 1st, and we are now finalizing plans for rallies in Ohio, Illinois, Colorado and New Mexico.

How these costs are treated for tax purposes directly impacts the economics of a project.  Though a substantial portion of the costs are recovered over a long period of time, exploration and production companies do get a tax deduction for the labor associated with drilling to defray some of the upfront risk and economic cost.

"Failure to consider the full effect of proposed laws and moratoria, as well as the operation of existing laws, could jeopardize thousands of jobs and further damage the Gulf Coast economy."

The fact that thousands would flock to a hearing about a time-honored oil field practice is indicative of the concern--and misperceptions--that swirl around hydraulic fracturing. Andy Leahy of Syracuse has concluded that "anti-fracking propagandists...have orchestrated a virally contagious chorus of spin, distortion and untruth."

He should have called 811 before he began to dig.

A new Rasmussen poll shows that support for offshore oil and natural gas development is holding steady despite the Deepwater Horizon accident. In a survey conducted July 22-23 via telephone, 56 percent of U.S. voters think offshore drilling should be allowed, and 47 percent favor deepwater drilling.

Unfortunately, new offshore development has ground to a standstill, and shallow-water drilling operators have discovered that complying with the government's new requirements is quite difficult. Blogger Vladimir at RedState says, "Operators have encountered road blocks at every turn."

Last week, I read a very interesting and thoughtful blog post by Michael Lynch of MasterResource that discusses the concept of and rhetoric behind "oil addiction."

His post, "One Person's Oil Addict is Another's Intelligent Consumer," challenges the traditional thinking behind the idea that American consumers are addicted to oil. Perhaps Lynch puts it best when he writes:

"...why say Americans are addicted to oil, but not food, housing and clothing? Or cement or steel? It is easy to compare the traditional types of addiction with the reliance on these substances to see where oil falls on the spectrum."

As we've mentioned on this blog many times, energy development is a primary driver of job creation. Developing the nation's abundant oil and natural gas resources could create tens of thousands of additional jobs.

A new Gallup poll proves this point and demonstrates that energy-producing states are among the best in job creation.

Last night, President Obama spoke eloquently about the challenges facing our country from the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

Our thoughts and prayers, as an industry and as a nation, have been with our workers and their neighbors along the coast. But our focus has been to help BP and the government in their efforts to stop the spill, to clean up the oil, and--once the causes of the spill are known--prevent it from ever happening again.

Whenever this nation is confronted by a major incident such as the Gulf oil spill, opinion-leaders step forward to offer their thoughts in print and online op-ed pages. Their comments are often thought-provoking and informative.

A number of prominent voices in the energy debate are discussing the need for continued safe, environmentally responsible offshore oil and natural gas development. EIA estimates demonstrate that the United States will consume 14 percent more energy in 25 years, including alternatives, renewables and oil and natural gas.