Policy changes could create more than 1.4 million jobs in oil and gas industry, API-sponsored study finds
US oil and natural gas policy changes could generate more than 1.4 million jobs, $800 billion in additional government revenue and 10 million barrels worth of added daily oil and natural gas production by 2030, according to a study by Wood Mackenzie released by the American Petroleum Institute (API) earlier this month. There’s potential for new jobs to be added in every state.
“Our industry has kept more than 9 million Americans employed through some of the toughest economic times in America’s history, and we created thousands of jobs just last month,” API president and CEO Jack Gerard said. “The study shows we could provide another 1.4 million jobs, with as many as one million created in just the next seven years, and thousands of shovel-ready jobs available next year. It’s time our national energy policy let America take advantage of this opportunity.”
“The creation of these jobs is within the president’s control,” Mr Gerard added. “The policy changes involve actions he can take unilaterally. They do not require a super committee of Congress, and they do not require new legislation.”
The policy changes include opening non-park federal onshore and offshore areas to development where it is now prohibited, returning permits in the Gulf of Mexico to historical levels, approving the Keystone XL pipeline project and other pipelines, and establishing a regulatory environment that permits full development of the nation’s oil and gas resources, including those locked in shale formations.
US oil and natural gas consumption would not necessarily increase as a result, according to API. The changes would allow America to produce at home a larger percentage of the oil and natural gas it consumes, which would reduce imports. “If the full potential of domestic oil and gas production could be achieved while also increasing imports of Canadian oil, all of America’s liquid fuels could come from secure North American sources within 15 years,” Mr Gerard said.
