Carlton Carroll  | 202.682.8114 | carrollc@api.org

WASHINGTON, September 19, 2011 – API President and CEO Jack Gerard said President Obama's call for higher taxes on the U.S. oil and natural gas industry would undercut efforts to create jobs:

"The president's plan to raise taxes would destroy jobs and drive investment out of the United States. It's ironic that in his search for revenues, the president overlooks the revenues available from increased access to domestic oil and natural gas. Rather than raising taxes on a single industry, he could raise revenues, create jobs and strengthen our energy security.  

"With one stroke of his pen, the president could allow the oil and natural gas industry to create a million new American jobs in just the next seven years.  This could also generate $127 billion in new revenue to the government.

"The president's plan would not produce the revenue promised.  We urge the president to focus on measures that create American jobs, get our economy back on track, and make us more energy secure."

API represents more than 480 oil and natural gas companies, leaders of a technology-driven industry that supplies most of America's energy, supports 9.2 million U.S. jobs and 7.7 percent of the U.S. economy, delivers $86 million a day in revenue to our government, and, since 2000, has invested over $2 trillion in U.S. capital projects to advance all forms of energy, including alternatives.