For years the public perception of the energy industry has been that of fat cats, ruthless J. R. Ewing types who make a killing off oil in their own backyard. Other pervasive myths about the industry include a belief that oil companies do not pay their fair share of taxes, that they make windfall profits and are “colossal giants’ owned by a ruthless group of “them”, that the industry gouges the consumer, and that energy companies destroy the environment and endanger species.
When it comes to the stereotype of J. R. Ewing, nothing could be further from the truth. Today, thousands of individuals in this country operate marginal wells—those producing ten barrels a day or less—that not only provide these people with a living, but also account for nearly 60 percent of our domestic production. What’s more, in Pennsylvania’s Marcellus shale formation, hundreds of mineral and royalty owners are now benefitting financially much like those in the Anadarko Basin and throughout our region from oil and gas lease bonuses. This relatively new exploration activity also accounts for 72,000 plus new jobs in Pennsylvania since 2009.
According to data compiled by the American Petroleum Institute, US oil and gas companies made an average of 9.5 cents on every dollar of sales in the second quarter of 2011 compared with 10 cents per dollar of sales for all manufacturing. According to Yahoo! Finance, of the top 114 industries according to net profit margin, independent oil and gas ranked number 80 with 8.3 percent, along with health insurance at 8.1 percent, and aerospace and defense at 6.6 percent. The top of the list included application software at 22.7 percent, soft drinks at 14.3 percent and wireless at 14.1 percent.
From a sheer market value perspective several years ago Royal-Dutch, Anadarko, Marathon, and Devon could not compare to Wal-Mart and Apple. Of the top fifty US companies listed by Yahoo! Finance under the category of market value, only four were oil and gas-related companies. Under the category of the top fifty US companies ranked by equity, only five were from the oil and gas-related companies.
It is also perceived that oil and gas companies destroy the environment. Though there have been some companies that have not lived up to protecting the environment, today’s oil and natural gas companies overall are in the forefront of environmental protection and increasingly finding that exploration and wildlife preservation can not only peacefully coexist but in some cases be mutually beneficial. For instance, Alaska Governor Sean Parnell testified to House Resources Committee in September 2011 that Prudhoe Bay, located sixty miles west of ANWR, has been operating for over thirty years and produced more than sixteen billion barrels of oil so far. Amidst that activity, the Central Arctic caribou herd at Prudhoe Bay has grown from 5000 in 1975 to over 67,000 in 2008. This rarely reported good news is due to the heat of crude passing through the pipeline which warms the tundra topsoil, causing grasses to sprout where they had never grown before. As a consequence, caribou herds and other wildlife have not only survived, but thrived.
What do you think? Does America Need America’s Energy? If so, how should we go about it?: America Needs America’s Energy: Together We Can Create America’s Energy Plan!
Note the 2013 International Energy Policy Conference Summit will be held in Tulsa, Ok., October 17th, go to www.energypolicyconference.com to learn more.
Go to www.peoplesenergyplan.com to join the effort of striving toward “creating together the people’s energy plan”.
Facebook: America Needs America’s Energy with 5800 supporters plus and growing. — America Needs America’s Energy: Creating Together the People’s Energy Plan!