Energy Tomorrow Blog
Study: Industry’s Broad Shoulders Support U.S. Economic Recovery
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Mark Green
Posted July 20, 2021
Natural gas and oil are the energy foundation for U.S. economic growth, job creation and the opportunity for Americans to prosper all across the country. This is seen in a new analysis of our industry’s economywide and countrywide impacts: 11.3 million jobs supported in 2019 across all 50 states and the District of Columbia – generating 3.5 additional jobs elsewhere in the economy for each direct industry job, accounting for 5.6% of total U.S. employment; supported nearly $1.7 trillion to U.S. gross domestic product, or nearly 8% of the national total; supported nearly $900 billion in labor income or 6.8% of U.S. national labor income.
The analysis by PwC commissioned by API is based on the latest available government data (2019). Like other industry and business sectors, our industry was hard hit by the economic effects of the 2020 pandemic, but the 2019 data – generated during a period of robust U.S. growth, indicates the importance of the natural gas and oil industry post-pandemic, as the U.S. and global economies and petroleum demand ramp up. The U.S. Energy Information Administration projects (EIA) that 2022 global oil and liquid fuels demand will eclipse 2019 levels.
Given EIA’s forecast, it’s critically important that national policy supports – and doesn’t hinder – domestic natural gas and oil production.
Studies Show Industry Offers Better Jobs, Greater Opportunity
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Sam Winstel
Posted July 17, 2020
Some lawmakers have proposed putting hundreds of thousands of Americans to work in clean energy jobs while moving the U.S. away from natural gas and oil and, presumably, from the jobs our industry supports.
Somebody should check to see if that’s what working men and women want.
A new study released this week by North America’s Building Trades Unions (NABTU) shows that workers appreciate jobs in natural gas and oil over “green-collar” jobs – because they pay better, last longer and provide greater opportunities.
Energy, Women and the Opportunity to Lead
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Megan Bloomgren
Posted March 9, 2019
To mark International Women’s Day, we have a new video featuring leading women from the natural gas and oil industry, including Susan Dio, chairman and president of BP America; Gretchen Watkins, president and U.S. country chair for Shell; and Stacey Nachbaur, Hess senior operations manager for upstream assets. Of course, the things these women say about the natural gas and oil industry are true every day of the year.
Our industry is high tech and critically important to the economy and powering modern life. Natural gas and oil are center stage in most geopolitical discussions, and natural gas is leading the way in reducing greenhouse emissions.
U.S. Energy, Jobs Continue to Be Impacted By Trade War
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Kyle Isakower
Posted January 2, 2019
Trade talks at the recent G-20 might have produced a ceasefire for one front in the trade war, but collateral damage continues to mount.
Before the holidays, retailers warned that the Trump administration’s tariff policies could raise prices on everything “from cribs to Christmas lights.” They were right. The Tariffs Hurt the Heartland coalition recently announced that Americans would pay more to light the tree this year. The vast majority of our holiday lights come from China, which means they were subject to a new 10 percent tariff this year – another casualty in the ongoing, multi-front trade war. …
Likewise, tariff and quota policies are hitting America’s natural gas and oil industry from multiple directions. We can’t operate without steel to drill wells that produce energy; operate refineries that turn it into gasoline and a variety of other essentials; and build pipelines, liquefied natural gas (LNG) export terminals and petrochemicals plants.
Taking the Energy Conversation to the Campus
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Dean Foreman
Posted April 26, 2018
During recent visits to three universities, my goal was to have conversations with students who might be part of the next generation of the energy workforce – talking with them about energy, global markets, the potential for rewarding careers and the advanced technologies we use to safely and responsibly develop the energy our country needs to grow its economy and increase its security.
I visited with 110 graduate and undergraduate students at the University of Pennsylvania, Tulane (photo below) and Rice universities – many of whom hope to work in the energy industry, and others who recognize the ways energy affects careers in manufacturing, finance, trading and other fields.
Energy Security, Veterans and Energy Careers
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Mark Green
Posted April 10, 2018
Men and women who’ve worn the uniform of the United States view “energy security” through a different lens than the rest of us. To many of them the American energy revolution – with oil production projected to reach 10.7 million barrels per day this year, and the U.S. becoming a net natural gas exporter for the first time in nearly 60 years – means our armed forces are less likely to be deployed to faraway places to protect energy interests. The point was underscored at a Vets4Energy event today at API.
Energy Careers Today and Tomorrow
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Mark Green
Posted July 19, 2017
As America’s natural gas and oil companies continue to develop their workforce of the future, they’ve got a great story to tell. Make that stories – of opportunity, cutting-edge technologies and key contributions toward environmental goals, just to name three. The competition for those workers will be vigorous. A recent survey by EY indicated some younger Americans can learn more about how natural gas and oil companies and refiners are developing the energy that our country will need for decades to come – safely and responsibly. Discussing the important contributions industry and its employees are making to Americans’ quality of life will address questions some may have.
The Facts on Energy Jobs
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Mark Green
Posted January 14, 2016
If you believe America is best served by taking a true, all-of-the-above approach to energy – and we do – there’s not a lot of value in getting into a donnybrook over which energy sector employs the most people. America needs all of its energy sources and all of each energy sector’s jobs. That said, let’s set the record a little straighter in the wake of a recent report by the Solar Foundation.
The solar report trumpets 209,000 workers employed by the solar industry – including installation, manufacturing, sales & distribution, project development and “all others.” The report compares that figure with 187,000 people employed in just the oil and natural gas industry’s extraction segment, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), an apples-to-oranges comparison that could leave a wrong impression.
We looked at the comparison and figured something is missing.
Video: Hopes, Dreams and a Career in Energy
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Mark Green
Posted June 10, 2015
The video below was featured during last week’s Big Brothers Big Sisters (BBBS) National Conference in Philadelphia, which highlighted the organization’s efforts to mentor at-risk youth. Take a look. “Darryl’s Story” is a compelling example of the positive effects of adult role-modeling – the good that can result when kids learn to dream big and then to work on their dreams. The energy connection: For Darryl, the journey took him to the oil and natural gas industry.
As an industry that’s creating opportunities that can be the realization of aspirations for fulfilling, well-paying careers, API is proud to partner with BBBS. The great news is that the oil and natural gas industry needs more Darryls, more young men and women who want to be geologists, engineers, chemists and the other specialties that comprise our modern workforce.
Energy Jobs and Women
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Mark Green
Posted February 7, 2015
The oil and natural gas industry expects to have 1.3 million jobs that will need to be filled through 2030 – the product of baseline growth, pro-development policies, capital investments and the need to replace retiring workers. That means opportunity. A 2014 IHS study for industry projected that women could account for 185,000 of these jobs.
The key is finding them. New research by American Viewpoint and Lake Research Partners, illuminating the attitudes and perceptions of women seeking employment in the oil and natural gas industry, could help. The firms conducted a series of focus groups with women between the ages of 18 and 44 – in addition to a national survey of 1,200 women in the same age group.