Albany, NY, January 11, 2012 - Michael Doyle, executive director of the New York State Petroleum Council, a division of API, urged that the state of New York permit hydraulic fracturing to proceed and allow for responsible development of oil and natural gas and job creation in the state:
"Ending the moratorium would allow New York to lead the way in the responsible development of shale oil and natural gas energy and fully attain the job creation potential of the Marcellus Shale."
Noting that the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) this week ended its comment period, Doyle said, "The end of the comment period should mark the beginning of job creation and economic growth through hydraulic fracturing."
Doyle added that "the oil and natural gas industry has been successfully producing oil and natural gas in the Jamestown Aquifer where hundreds – if not thousands – of wells have been drilled for several decades without any significant environmental impacts.
"The combination of effective regulation, operational standards and industry's commitment to excellence have allowed the industry to operate responsibly across the nation for decades, and this will be true in New York," he said. "Any decision made in the best interest of the state must be made based on sound science. The opportunity to develop one of the world's largest resources of clean burning natural gas is too great to be lost, or left off-limits to responsible development."
Hundreds of New York business owners and landowners joined API and a coalition of industry representatives to rally this week in Albany and in areas throughout upstate New York ahead of the January 10 deadline for the DEC's comment period. Supporters filed more than ten thousand additional comments yesterday in support of bringing billions of dollars in government revenue to the state and what the DEC estimates could be more than 50,000 jobs created in New York by moving forward with the development of the Marcellus Shale.
Read API's comments submitted on behalf of the oil and natural gas industry here.
API represents more than 490 oil and natural gas companies, leaders of a technology-driven industry that supplies most of America's energy, supports 9.2 million U.S. jobs and 7.7 percent of the U.S. economy, delivers more than $86 million a day in revenue to our government, and, since 2000, has invested over $2 trillion in U.S. capital projects to advance all forms of energy, including alternatives.