Investing In Your Community
America’s small and independent oil and natural gas producers provide communities across the country with jobs, economic growth, and much-needed revenues from production royalties and land rents.
In fact, more than 1.2 million Americans work in the energy industry, and countless workers and businesses depend on it for their livelihood. In 2007 alone, the industry invested a record $226 billion in domestic exploration and production, driving countless state and local economies. Those investments translated to real growth and opportunity. In Oklahoma, for example, the industry invested $15.2 billion, $11 billion of which was transacted with local businesses.
The industry also provides needed revenue for federal and state governments. In 2007, the oil and gas industry paid public and private landowners $30 billion in royalties. In addition to those royalties, the industry paid billions in federal and state taxes, providing needed revenue for essential services.
All of these impressive benefits, however, could be significantly diminished under new federal regulations. As the Project BRIEF research illustrates, new regulations could:
- Force the closure of more than half of America’s oil wells and a third of our gas wells
- Cost the federal government $4 billion in revenue; state treasuries would lose $785 million
- Slash domestic oil production by 183,000 barrels per day; natural gas by 245 billion cubic feet per year
Project BRIEF’s Economic Impacts Map illustrates the potential impacts of proposed regulations on the economies of the fifty states.
