OTC.08 POST-SHOW REVIEW

US energy policy

By Katrina Boughal

Political and global tensions and the rising price of energy have strained the relationship between energy companies and consumers in the US. Michael Whatley from the Consumer Energy Alliance (CEA) spoke at OTC about how to combat a bad public image and pursue an effective energy policy change that is advantageous for all Americans.

Whatley began by outlining the US’s need to produce its own energy. Over 80% of the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) is off-limits for exploration and production, including the entire East Coast and almost the entire West Coast. The Gulf of Mexico (GOM) is being explored, but in that ultradeepwater environment, oil and gas are difficult to access. Onshore resources are not faring better. Congress continues to block unconventional leasing programs that would open up tar sands in Colorado and Utah.

US oil demand is also rising, along with the rest of the world. The US Department of Energy and the Environmental Protection Agency are both expecting a US demand increase of about 30% in the next several decades. Increasing importation of foreign oil into the US is also a problem.

Congressional response to the energy industry has been to raise taxes and to block any new domestic plays. Congress has voted several times in the House to raise taxes on oil and gas production, and to increase royalties on offshore oil and gas production.

Whatley recommended that the energy industry adopt the environmentalists’ political strategy to fight for better energy policies, saying that it was a simple plan that could be applied to any platform. He also recommended recruiting important energy users like pharmaceutical and chemical companies, and airlines and farmers’ organizations, and emphasized that collectively, energy users and energy producers have a larger “footprint in Washington” than energy companies alone.