API response to new oil and gas taxes

With Congress expected to consider energy legislation this summer, some are suggesting that any new programs be paid for with new taxes on the oil and natural gas industry. As the nation struggles to recover from recession, further taxes on an industry that supports 9.2 million jobs and 7.5% of our GDP could have a devastating effect on our jobs, economic recovery and our energy security, according to the leading oil and natural gas trade association.

‘While the focus of our industry is on helping BP stop the spill and clean up the oil, we cannot ignore the fact that imposing significant new taxes on the oil and natural gas industry will have severe economic consequences and job impacts,’ said Jack Gerard, president and CEO of the American Petroleum Institute (API).

API will run a series of 15 and 30 second television ads in 10 target states during July. The ads feature working Americans’ responses to the potential for new taxes on the oil and natural gas industry.

Opposition to higher taxes remains strong among the public and has been cited as a factor in several primary elections and in recent opinion polling.

‘Americans have historically been suspicious of taxes on the industry that produces most of the energy they consume. They deserve to be informed about new proposals that would increase those taxes by many billions of dollars a year. The ads are part of the national debate on energy and tax policy. We hope they will help ensure decisions affecting out economic and energy security are not made in a vacuum or based on incomplete information,’ said Gerard.

The ads will run in Colorafo, Michigan, North Carolina, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Maine, Missouri, Ohio and West Virginian. They started on 6^th July

Read the article online at: https://www.lngindustry.com/liquid-natural-gas/07072010/api_response_to_new_oil_and_gas_taxes/