Oil and natural gas touch our lives in countless ways every day. Together, they supply 65 percent of our nation’s energy. They fuel our cars, heat our homes and cook our food.

But did you know that oil and natural gas also help generate the electricity that powers our daily lives? Or that crude oil supplies the building blocks for everything from dent-resistant car fenders to soft drink bottles to camping equipment?

Explore this section to learn more about oil and natural gas, how they are produced and how they become the products you count on. You’ll also find useful tips on how to conserve energy and use oil and natural gas products in ways that protect you, your family and our environment.

The Truth About Oil and Gasoline: An API Primer
America is in a global struggle for energy security and many of us lack a full understanding of the oil and natural gas industry. API has assembled a primer to encourage a constructive public policy debate on meeting the growing energy needs of consumers and industry.

Sections include discussions of global energy demand, price increases, what consumers are paying at the pump, earnings, refinery expansions, the environment and energy security.

 The Truth About Oil and Gasoline: An API Primer
Size: 2 MB | Date: May 2, 2008 | License: Free

To see an accompanying video that helps explain topics presented in the Primer, go to to the Energy Tomorrow website to view.

Investment and Other Uses of Cash Flow by the Oil Industry
Today's oil and natural gas industry earnings are invested in new technology, new production and environment and product quality improvements to meet tomorrow's energy needs. This new Ernst & Young study shows the five major oil companies had $765 billion of new investment between 1992 and 2006, compared to net income of $662 billion during the same period. The industry overall, which includes 57 of the largest U.S. oil and natural gas companies, had new investments of $1.25 trillion over the same period, compared to net income of $900 billion and cash flows of $1.77 trillion. High oil and gas prices in recent years increased oil and natural gas companies’ cash flows from operations and net income, which facilitated record levels of investment spending. Download the complete report below (Published May 2007) .

 View/Download
Size: 192 KB | Date: January 28, 2008 | License: Free

The Economic Contributions to the U.S. National and State Economies by the Oil and Natural Gas Industry
This report quantifies the effects of the oil and natural gas industry’s employment and purchases of goods and services on the U.S. national and state economies in terms of jobs, value-added, and labor income.

 Full Report
Size: 310 KB | Date January 15, 2007 | License: Free

What Goes Down Must Come Up: A Review of the Factors Behind Increasing Gasoline Prices, 1999-2006
U.S. gasoline prices nearly tripled between January 1999 and July 2006. Consumers, policymakers, and the media have questioned why prices rose so quickly and why they remain so high. In this paper, Professor Carol Dahl, an independent expert in international energy markets reviews the available data and evaluates the various forces that have been suggested as possible causes for these price trends.

  Executive Summary
Size: 1.2 MB | Date: April 2007 | License: Free

  Full Report
Size: 1.5 MB | Date: Updated July 2007 | License: Free

Understanding Today's Crude Oil and Product Markets (Oil Primer)
American consumers, and policy makers, are anxious for answers to explain why fuel bills are getting more expensive. They wonder what  has caused the price of crude to push past $70 per barrel and how that crude price affects the price of gasoline and other refined products. In a project commissioned by API, Lexecon. a unit of business consultancy FTI, has put together a primer called “Understanding Today’s  Crude Oil and Products Markets.”


Download/view
Size: 1.7 MB | Date: May 2006 | License: Free

Understanding Natural Gas Markets
Natural gas is an attractive fuel because it is clean-burning and efficient.  The importance of natural gas as an energy source for the United States has grown since the mid-1990.  For the last five to seven years, the price of natural gas has been trending upward in response to the interaction of supply and increased demand. In a project commissioned by API, Lexecon. a unit of business consultancy FTI, has put together a primer called "Understanding Natural Gas Markets" that explains this interaction of market forces.

 
Download/view
Size: 1.8 MB | Date: January 2007 | License: Free

API Energy Series Although we’re part of a global industry, we bring our products right to your neighborhood.  But doing so reliably and efficiently is a big job, and we realize our industry can sometimes seem quite complex if not baffling. To provide a better understanding of what we do, we’ve prepared a series of short papers, in plain talk, that discuss our business, how we operate, the major issues we’re facing today, and the solutions we’re working on for the future.

Understanding Today's Energy Needs and Planning for Tomorrow's
Americans are part of an interdependent global marketplace.  Consumers are best served by multiple sources of energy supply from the United States and around the world.  The more energy we can conserve and produce here at home, the less we will have to import from foreign sources.


Download/view
File Size: 3.5 MB | Date: September 2006 | License: Free

Download/view
Size: 2.85 MB | Date: December 2003 | License: Free