Carlton Carroll | 202.682.8114 | carroll@api.org
WASHINGTON, March 24, 2011 — Erik Milito, API’s upstream director, today called the ‘use-it-or-lose-it’ argument “a convenient way to detract attention from policies that undermine the mission of supplying Americans with the energy they need.”
In a statement to reporters, Milito refuted charges by administration officials and members of Congress that U.S. oil and natural gas companies are sitting on oil leases granted by the government, stubbornly refusing to turn them into producing leases.
Attached is a full text of the statement, as prepared for delivery, as well as two fact sheets outlining timelines for offshore and onshore exploration.
API represents more than 470 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.