API on Obama’s climate change announcements

Jack Gerard, API President and CEO has welcomed the President’s acknowledgement of the role natural gas has played to reduce US CO₂ emission to near 20 year lows. However, he has cautioned that new regulations and higher taxes on energy production would be an economic disaster that could actually threaten America’s progress in lowering emissions.

Comments from Gerard

‘The president recognises the important role natural gas has played in reducing CO₂ levels to near 20 year lows, thanks to private investments in energy exploration, production and refining. Those investments in America’s energy potential have led us to the point of being the world’s largest producer of natural gas, and flipped plans to import LNG into plans to export it.

‘But by recycling his plans to raise taxes on US oil and natural gas companies, President Obama runs the risk of unwinding the significant environmental benefits from natural gas, threatens our economic recovery and dampens our ability to create millions of jobs for Americans.

Ironically, the president’s plan to raise taxes by eliminating cost recovery for US oil and natural gas companies would jeopardise his own climate goals by making some of those investments uneconomic. After a handful of years, we would see less domestic energy production, particularly of natural gas, more imports, fewer new jobs, and eventually, depressed tax, royalty and other revenues to governments at all levels.’

Adapted from press release by Claira Lloyd.

Read the article online at: https://www.hydrocarbonengineering.com/gas-processing/26062013/api_on_obama_climate_change_442/