Reid Porter | 202.682.8114 | porterr@api.org
API’s President and CEO Jack Gerard today responded to the announcement by BOEMRE Director Bromwich approving one permit for one company to resume drilling in the Gulf of Mexico:
“While every permit is welcome news, tightening the screws on domestic oil and natural gas production during a time of increased demand and global uncertainty is a formula for disaster. This slow moving process continues to stifle domestic production and puts thousands of jobs at risk in the Gulf and around the country.”
According to API, the lack of permitting is damaging to the Gulf Coast, the nation’s economy, and energy security. A recent study by the consultant firm Wood Mackenzie shows that if the permit process is not speeded up, as much as 680,000 barrels of oil equivalent Gulf production a day could be at risk in 2019, and associated job losses could reach 125,000 per year by 2015.
API represents more than 450 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 and 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.