Juan R. Palomo | 202.682.8114 | palomoj@api.org
WASHINGTON, March 11, 2011 – American Petroleum Institute Upstream Director Erik Milito today criticized the Obama administration for statements downplaying the impact of its policies on U.S. oil and natural gas production, saying some in the administration “live in a world unconnected to energy reality,” during a news conference.
“Production levels in 2010 are a credit to the vision of previous administrations, which opened areas to development, and to the men and women of the U.S. oil and natural gas industry who have produced more from our resources than anyone anticipated,” said Milito.
Domestic production of oil will decline from 5.51 million barrels per day in 2010 to 5.4 million barrels per day in 2011 – and 5.27 million barrels per day in 2012, according to the Energy Information Administration.
The agency has said that is due partly to a decline in production in the Gulf of Mexico of 240,000 barrels per day this year and another 200,000 barrels a day in 2012, which it attributed to the administration’s Gulf drilling moratorium and the Interior Department’s slow pace of approving offshore drilling permits.
Milito said that the process of producing oil and natural gas is a lengthy one, taking years between the time a lease is awarded and the time energy begins flowing from a well on that lease site.
“We cannot one day decide to move forward with an aggressive production program and have energy starting to flow the next day or week,” Milito said. “But there are decisions that can be made today that will help ease the concerns about this administration’s commitment to a reliable supply of domestic energy.”
Despite the president’s call last year for increased domestic production, Milito said, his administrationhas consistently made choices that delay companies’ access to domestic oil and natural gas – and to “vilify the American oil and natural gas industry – through yearly calls for removing business tax provisions that affect these companies, regardless of the potential impact of higher taxes on production, supply and price.”
Milito added that at a time of widespread concern over gasoline prices, the economic recovery and job security, “it is time for the administration to work as a real partner with an industry that is ready – and waiting – to do more, not less.”