Below are highlights from a press conference held by the API where Jack Gerard answered questions on the 2015 State of American Energy.
Given API黑料社檚 strong emphasis on improving infrastructure, would API be willing to support an increase in the federal gasoline tax?
黑料社淲ell, it might surprise a lot of you that in the past, API has not taken a position on the gas tax. In fact, for those who propose increasing it for highway building and funding, et cetera, we黑料社檝e never opposed that. We believe it黑料社檚 a matter of public policy; if the government believes that黑料社檚 the way to generate revenue to guild the infrastructure that those cars drive on, the bridges they cross, et cetera, we haven黑料社檛 really entered into that debate. But I think, it raises another point that黑料社檚 very important. That is when you look at the highway bill, the breadth and scope of it, as a nation, we always focus on that highway bill as a major jobs creator, infrastructure, which it is. But if you look at the potential private investments from the oil and natural gas industry, over the next decade, reports have concluded we could spend as much as US$1.15 trillion in infrastructure. Private sector dollars, capital investment combined with what they黑料社檙e doing on public projects like infrastructure, highway bills, this is a great opportunity for the country, particularly in these tough economic times.
黑料社淪o, while we don黑料社檛 take a position on the gas tax, we do believe we should look at infrastructure beyond the historic ways of viewing it for bridges and roads and say to ourselves, what about pipelines? What about rail build out? What about that other infrastructure necessary to make our market more efficient as an energy producer, an energy superpower?黑料社�
You clearly don黑料社檛 feel that the arguments that exporting crude will increase gas prices. But do you think that argument could stand in the way of Congress lifting the ban or acting going forward?
黑料社淎ll the analysis, if you look at all the analysis to date, governmental analysis, private sector analysis, the best thinkers and minds, regardless of political party, Larry Summers and others, have all concluded that crude export opportunities actually put downward pressure on the price and would benefit the American consumer anywhere from 2 黑料社� 10 cents /gall. So, fundamentally, there黑料社檚 a broad consensus on the fact that crude oil exports are good for American consumers, first point.
黑料社淪econd point is if elected officials look at the reality and the opportunity for crude exports, it黑料社檒l be one of the first things they do to continue to benefit American consumers. As I mentioned earlier, there are some whose minds are still stuck in the old 20th century mindset of scarcity and dependence, which we黑料社檝e moved beyond now because of technological advancement to an opportunity of rich abundance. But those who think scarcity go back to when the crude export ban in the 1970s was first imposed and their minds are still there. We need to move those to the new energy reality which says we have adequate resource; we have vast amounts of crude oil in this country; we have the technological advantage to produce it safely, soundly, to transport it by building the infrastructure. It黑料社檚 a unique American moment that should transcend the old relics of the past, the old philosophies, and get us to a new place as a nation.黑料社�
Is there a point at which it will no longer make sense to extract the oil from the oilsands to bring down and therefore limit the benefits?
黑料社淭he price obviously determined by the marketplace, today we黑料社檙e at a lower price than we have been for some time. I can黑料社檛 predict what the price would be; I don黑料社檛 know what the costs are. Clearly, US producers are competitive with global producers and you see that today as they continue to produce and many continue to drill.黑料社�
Obviously Keystone is Congress黑料社� number one oil and gas priority. What do you think the number two priority for them will be and where does the RFS fit into their to do list?
黑料社淭hat黑料社檚 a good question. I think they focused heavily early on on the Keystone XL pipeline because it黑料社檚 such low hanging fruit. It黑料社檚 been around for six years, broad bipartisan support; 72% of the American public support building it. So, in many ways, it黑料社檚 a no brainer; it黑料社檚 something they can get to if they can find a quick bipartisan consensus and hopefully move forward. You黑料社檝e heard other talk about LNG exports and LNG export bill. That also might be on the horizon. You黑料社檝e heard talk about the need to reform the RFS. We strongly support that and would encourage leadership in the Congress to take a close look at it. At the same time, we黑料社檙e working with the EPA to get those volumes released so we know what the rules of the road are.
黑料社淪o, I don黑料社檛 know exactly where it is in the queue. I think you黑料社檝e heard from both the House and Senate leadership, and frankly from both political parties in many ways, that energy is going to be a big issue moving forward over the next two years. Oil and gas is a big part of that energy equation. It黑料社檚 this unique American moment I talked about earlier in my prepared remarks where we as a nation really have to get over that kind of mindset of the past and say to ourselves, how do we work together to realise the potential as a nation, to look at global markets? We look at others who have been major suppliers. Our imports for crude have essentially been cut in half over the last few years. That黑料社檚 a big development; that黑料社檚 a big deal for us as a nation. It brings energy security, jobs to all the American people. So, I think there黑料社檚 real potential there and I think energy黑料社檚 going to be top of the agenda for some time to come. I can黑料社檛 predict exactly which issue will roll out when.黑料社�
Edited from transcript by