Energy Tomorrow Blog
API Committed to Energy Accessibility and Workforce Inclusion
energy access workforce diversity
Sam Winstel
Posted October 21, 2020
As API’s members focus on meeting some of America’s greatest challenges, it’s clear our workers – the men and women of natural gas and oil – are our industry’s most valuable assets. For the future, this industry must continue to attract the best and brightest minds – while building a diverse, inclusive and resilient workforce that will bring energy to America for decades to come.
Over the summer, API President and CEO Mike Sommers wrote to colleagues underscoring the strength in this industry’s diversity, and initiating a conversation among natural gas and oil operators about actions to address disparities in the energy workforce and in American communities more broadly.
This month, Sommers joined Dr. Benjamin Chavis, president and CEO of the National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA) and a pioneering civil rights leader, to continue this conversation with a one-on-one interview entitled, “Opportunities in the Energy Industry.”
A Force For Good
energy access global energy clean energy affordable energy climate
Megan Bloomgren
Posted June 13, 2019
John Watson, then the chairman and CEO of Chevron, once was asked how the natural gas and oil industry is perceived since so much of the climate discussion is aimed solely at producing fossil fuels.
Unflinchingly, Watson countered that his industry is a noble one – delivering light, heat, transportation, food, clothing and other benefits to people every day – and that natural gas and oil are foundational for almost everything that we use and do. Simply put, Watson asserted that natural gas and oil are forces for good in human development and far from a deterrent (and instead an enabler) of climate progress.
It was an argument for the societal value of natural gas and oil and the opportunities they create, thanks to U.S. energy abundance.
Yes, Industry Supports Increased Offshore Access
offshore energy access us energy security technology safe operations
Mark Green
Posted January 25, 2018
Growing U.S. Energy Self-Sufficiency
oil and natural gas production domestic energy access eia offshore energy onshore development shale energy hydraulic fracturing horizontal drilling
Mark Green
Posted April 6, 2015
Statistics in the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s Monthly Energy Review for March show U.S. domestic energy production meeting about 89 percent of the country’s total energy demand. That’s up from 84 percent in 2013 and 2012 and reflects a key result of the domestic energy revolution: growing U.S. self-sufficiency.
EIA data shows U.S. energy production as a percentage of total demand. Total energy production (fossil fuels, nuclear electric power and renewables – again, as a percentage of total U.S. energy demand -- was about 69 percent in 2005, and it grew to about 89 percent last year. The share of fossil fuels (oil, natural gas and coal) accounted for approximately 55 percent in 2005, growing to about 70 percent last year.
America's Energy Present
energy access energy economy energy future hydraulic fracturing investments job creation keystone xl pipeline shale benefits
Mark Green
Posted November 26, 2013
Here’s wishing everyone a happy Thanksgiving while offering a few of the reasons we can all feel blessed because of America’s energy present and future – which the men and women of the oil and natural gas industry help deliver.
Energy Bounty
Let’s start with the fact America is enjoying a renaissance in home-grown energy production, thanks to advances in technologies and techniques, such as hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling. Last month these played a big role in helping domestic oil output to exceed imports for the first time since 1995. Because of fracking and other technologies, more of America’s vast oiland natural gas reserves can be developed to generate fuels that provide about 62 percent of the energy Americans currently use. That’s energy that makes our lives possible – that will power our lifestyles and economy in the future, according to government projections.
Virginia: Yes to Offshore Drilling, More Energy
domestic energy access offshore drilling regulation
Mark Green
Posted October 15, 2013
Virginia is among Mid-Atlantic states under federal consideration for offshore seismic surveying for oil and natural gas. Policymakers should be mindful of a new poll showing that a wide majority of Virginians – 67 percent – favor offshore drilling, as well as increased production of domestic oil and natural gas overall.
Let's Have A Parade
energy information administration crude oil crude oil production oil imports energy access domestic energy reserves
Mark Green
Posted March 21, 2013
New from the U.S. Energy Information Administration:
Monthly crude oil production in the United States is expected to exceed the amount of U.S. crude oil imports later this year for the first time since February 1995. The gap between monthly U.S. crude oil production and imports is projected to be almost 2 million barrels per day (bbl/d) by the end of next year—according to EIA's March 2013 Short-Term Energy Outlook.
Limiting Access Limits Opportunity
Mark Green
Posted March 1, 2013
We say opportunities for oil and natural gas development in federally controlled areas – onshore and offshore – have been limited. Some are saying that’s false. Let’s look at the facts.
Claim: 70 percent of undiscovered oil and natural gas on federal lands is available for leasing and development.
Fact: 83 percent of areas controlled by the federal government are closed to oil and natural gas development.
What we have here is some sleight of hand with terminology. We’ll use the offshore situation to illustrate. During last year’s State of the Union address the president said he was directing the administration to open up more than 75 percent of America’s offshore resources for development.Sustaining Our Energy Renaissance
natural gas keystone xl energy access oil
Mark Green
Posted February 28, 2013
Main points from White House energy advisor Heather Zichal in an update of the administration’s positions on energy and environmental policy at an event this week hosted by the Center for Strategic & International Studies:
- Safe, reliable, affordable energy is the lifeblood of America’s economy and is fundamentally linked to U.S. security in the world.
- America’s energy narrative has been rewritten – chiefly due to innovations that have launched the shale oil and natural gas revolution – from one of scarcity to one of abundance.
- The administration’s chief economic goal is to create more middle-class jobs, and energy is and can continue to be a key driver of job and economic growth.
The $1 Trillion Choice, Continued
Mark Green
Posted February 26, 2013
The White House is continuing the drum beat for higher taxes on oil and natural gas companies – oddly, as a reaction to higher gasoline prices. Press Secretary Jay Carney this week:
“Anybody fill up their gas tank this weekend? Think the oil and gas companies can maybe afford to give up their taxpayer – special interest break? I think most Americans would say yes.”
Let’s think this through. Gasoline prices have been rising – mostly because of underlying increases in the cost of crude oil due to higher global demand for oil – and the White House press secretary’s response is to connect gasoline prices with a tired proposal to raise taxes on the producers of gasoline.