Jan 4, 2017 3 min read

The head of the oil and gas industry’s largest trade group said Wednesday that while the United States is now the largest producer of both of those fuels, it needs “smart pro-growth energy policies” to continue to provide low-cost energy domestically and globally.

Jack Gerard, who was keynote speaker at API’s seventh annual “State of American Energy” event in Washington, D.C., said during a webcast his organization’s hope “is that energy policy, at all levels of government, will be guided by a collective, bipartisan vision of an American energy future that generates the kinds of jobs, revenue to the government and economic opportunity that have been the hallmark of our industry since the very beginning.”

With the change of administration and a new Congress in Washington, “we have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to find solutions of many of today’s most pressing issues, including creating middle class jobs, tackling income inequality, ensuring sustained affordable energy for consumers and enhancing our national security,” Gerard said, noting that the industry already supports 9.8 million jobs and 8 percent of the U.S economy.

He noted that the U.S. energy renaissance, largely due to hydraulic fracturing technology, has already benefitted American consumers with lower energy costs and has also helped American manufacturers reduce energy and materials costs, and in turn, is helping to attract a return of manufacturing to the United States.

He noted that because of the abundance of natural gas, U.S. industrial electricity costs are 30 to 50 percent lower than those of foreign competitors.

In addition to enabling consumers and manufacturers to reap the economic benefits of low-cost energy, Gerard said the industry also wants to reach foreign markets, including places where major portions of the world’s population have little or no access to cheap energy.

“We occupy an important point in our nation’s history,” Gerard said. “For the first time in our lifetime, we can now say that North America has the potential to become a net energy exporter. That’s a revolutionary change, a significant shift from where we were just a few short years ago.

“Ultimately, the very foundational nature of oil and natural gas as a source of electricity, fuel and feedstock for everyday products makes the national energy policy discussion more than a collection of abstract policy positions. It makes it a discussion about what’s best for American workers, consumers, families and environment.”

According to Gerard, the industry “stands ready to offer solutions that help meet the energy needs of our nation and the world and to work with elected leaders at all levels of government to ensure that the American consumer continues to benefit from affordable and reliable domestic energy.

“Above all, we will remain responsible towards the natural resources we develop and a good neighbor and citizen to the communities in which we operate.”

During questions from the press, particularly in how the industry would respond to climate change, Gerard argued that the industry is helping to lower certain emissions, noting that while natural gas production has risen to its highest level recently, carbon reduction is at a 25-year low.

When another reporter asked how the industry would proceed with regulatory changes, reminding him that Pennsylvania is in the process of writing new rules for methane emissions, Gerard said the industry wants to eliminate those regulations “which are unnecessary or redundant to what states are already doing.”