Bill Bush | 202.682.8069 | bushw@api.org
Washington, September 14, 2010 – Americans overwhelmingly oppose raising taxes on America’s oil and natural gas industry, and most believe it could kill jobs, according to a survey commissioned by API and conducted by Harris Interactive this month by telephone. Among those responding to the survey, 62 percent opposed an increase in taxes on the industry, and 60 percent said it could destroy jobs.
“Voters fear that 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. “They think it could cost jobs, and that’s exactly what two recent studies show.”
Based on a Wood Mackenzie analysis of production impacts from eliminating the manufacturing and intangible drilling cost tax deductions for the oil and natural gas industry, API calculated 58,800 jobs would be put at risk in 2011 and 165,000 in 2020. A separate study of the impacts of ending the manufacturing tax deduction and increasing taxes on the industry’s foreign-earned income by Louisiana State University professor Joseph Mason concluded that 154,000 jobs could be lost in 2011.
The U.S. oil and natural gas industry is one of the nation’s biggest taxpayers. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, the industry paid almost $100 billion in federal income taxes in 2008 (latest available data). A review of Compustat data shows that the oil and natural gas industry had an effective average tax rate of 48.4 percent in 2009 compared with 28.1 percent for the rest of S&P industrial companies.
API represents more than 400 oil and natural gas companies, leaders of a technology-driven industry that supplies most of America’s energy, supports more than 9.2 million U.S. jobs, accounts for 7.5 percent of the U.S. economy, and, since 2000, has invested nearly $2 trillion in U.S. capital projects to advance all forms of energy, including alternatives, while reducing the industry’s environmental footprint.
Methodology
The survey was commissioned by the American Petroleum Institute and conducted by Harris Interactive between September 9 and September 12, 2010 by telephone among 1,007 U.S. adults 18+. A full methodology is available upon request.
Updated: September 15, 2010