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O
ffshore
A
ccess
to Oil and NaturalGasResources
Production of oil and natural gas on federal lands hasbrought billions of dollars of revenue into federal andstate treasuries. These royalties are one of the largestsources of income to the federal government.According to the U.S. Department of the Interior, in fiscalyear 2008, the agency distributed a record $23.4 billion to the federal government, states and American Indian tribes from onshore and offshore energy production.Nearly $22 billion of that amount came from oil andnatural gas production.• A part of that revenue included $10 billion in bonusbids paid by companies to lease tracts for offshoreenergy exploration on the Outer Continental Shelf in the Gulf of Mexico and Alaska.• A total of 35 states received $2.6 billion from these revenues.
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According to an ICF International study commissionedby the American Petroleum Institute (API), developing America’s vast domestic oil and natural gas resources that were kept off-limits by Congress for decades couldgenerate more than $1.7 trillion in government revenue,including $1.3 trillion in revenues from offshoredevelopment alone. These revenues would beearned over the life of the resource.
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Increased federal leasing could bring additional highpaying jobs to Americans. Our industry directly employs2.1 million Americans, with another seven million jobssupported by the industry.
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• Oil and natural gas industry exploration and productionwages in 2006 were more than double the nationalaverage.• New manufacturing jobs would be created to developand install the infrastructure to bring new resources to market.
1U.S. Minerals Management Service (MMS) press release, November 29, 2008.2PWC Study, The Economic Impacts of the Oil and Natural Gas Industry on the U.S.Economy: Employment, Labor Income and Value Added, September 2009.
• Local employment also would benefit with the additionof construction jobs as well as service and supportpositions.• In 2030, 160,000 jobs would be created.
Access to Domestic Sources
Increasing access to domestic sources of oil and natural gas wouldcreate new high paying jobs, bring billions of dollars to federaland state treasuries, reduce our balance of payments and enhanceAmerica’s energy security.
• The Interior Department’s Minerals ManagementService, the federal agency responsible for regulating oil and natural gas leasing in federal waters, still needs to set out a leasing schedule before any oil and naturalgas development offshore the East and West coastscan take place.• In February 2009, Interior Secretary Ken Salazarannounced he would extend the comment period bysix months for a proposed plan and leasing schedule to open up additional offshore areas for leasing from2010 to 2015.• Any proposed plan goes through an extensive reviewbefore any final decision.New resources could be found in the federal watersoff the United States, if the government allows access to them.• Congress has allowed the decades-old moratoriabanning leasing on most of the Outer ContinentalShelf (OCS) off the lower 48 states to expire.• A new ICF International study,
Strengthening Our Economy: The Untapped U.S. Oil and Gas Resources,
found that opening up these areas could lift domesticcrude production by nearly 1 million barrels a day andnatural gas production by 3 billion cubic feet per day.
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Outer Continental Shelf Resources
Where can we find new resources? Right here.
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