API President Jack Gerard comments on Senate ENR passage of energy bill

Cathy Landry | 202-682-8122 | landryc@api.org

WASHINGTON, June 17, 2009 - American Petroleum Institute President Jack Gerard issued the following statement on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee’s 15 to 8 vote to approve an energy bill that would open part of the Eastern Gulf of Mexico for additional oil and natural gas leasing and clarify ambiguous language in Section 526 of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, which, as originally written, could have precluded federal agencies from using transportation fuels derived from Canadian oil sands:

“The committee took a positive step forward by passing this bill which recognizes the importance of additional offshore oil and natural gas development and Canadian oil to our nation’s energy and economic security. The majority of Americans favor greater offshore development, and they recognize this development means more jobs, more government revenues and more domestic energy supplies.

As the bill moves forward to the full Senate, we hope a resolution can be found to ensure that coastal states are compensated for hosting development off their shores because that production will benefit all Americans in terms of revenues, additional jobs and greater domestic energy supply.”