Energy in Depth

Energy in Depth Increases its Reach

Along with our twitter feed, Facebook Group, YouTube channel and custom widget, Energy in Depth is now running an aggressive ad campaign on the Drudge Report.  This campaign is being complimented with Google Advertising along with Facebook ads that have been running for two weeks.

We’re working to reach as many Americans as possible, but we need your help! Send our website to your friends, link to us on your blog and install our widget.

New Study: Proposed Energy Regulations Could Cost Thousands of American Jobs, Billions in Public Revenues

U.S. Natural Gas and Oil Producers Launch “Energy In Depth” Initiative to Educate the Public, Prevent Losses

WASHINGTON, DC – A coalition of America’s oil and natural gas producers today released the findings of a major research initiative, which, among other things, concludes that enacting new federal environmental regulations – especially related to hydraulic fracturing – could have disastrous economic consequences and increase our dependence on foreign sources of oil.

Known as Project BRIEF – Bringing Real Information on Energy Forward – the research initiative is comprised of studies on the history and progress of effective state regulation of energy development, the proper role of the federal government in regulating development, and the economic consequences associated with changes to existing regulatory frameworks.  To highlight the Project BRIEF findings and educate the public, the coalition also launched a new website, which can be found at www.EnergyInDepth.org.

“The scope of the Project BRIEF research project is unprecedented, and its findings are stark,” said Lee Fuller of the Independent Petroleum Association of America, one of the coalition organizers which represents the 5,000 smaller, independent producers that drill 90 percent of the nation’s wells.  “Implementing new federal regulations that threaten domestic energy production and increase costs – without creating any additional environmental benefits – is the wrong policy course for the country, and could cost thousands of hard-working Americans their jobs.  That’s the bottom line in the BRIEF reports, and the reason we’ve launched this public education initiative.”

America’s natural gas and oil producers provide massive untold contributions to the national economy, and play a critical role in ensuring that America’s energy needs are – and will continue to be – met.  Saddling these producers with new, unnecessary, and ineffective environmental regulations could put them out of business, destroy jobs, and increase our U.S. dependence on foreign sources of energy. That’s especially true if lawmakers in Congress move forward with plans to target hydraulic fracturing, a safe and commonly used production technology that renders possible the efficient extraction of energy resources from shale rock.

“Energy is the lifeblood of our economy and the fuel that sustains and creates good jobs here at home,” Fuller continued.  “The men and women who work for America’s roughly five thousand small and independent oil and natural gas producers are using 21^st century technology to develop supplies safely, efficiently, and effectively – as their long record of achievement illustrates.  Policymakers and the American public need to get unvarnished facts and see firsthand the environmentally-sensitive technology we have at our command today to produce energy safely.  They’ll get both, and more, with Energy in Depth.”

Key Findings of the Project BRIEF reports include:

• 1.2 million Americans are directly employed by domestic oil and natural gas producers

• In 2007 alone, the industry invested a record $226 billion in domestic exploration and production, driving countless state and local economies
• In 2007, the oil and gas industry paid public and private landowners $30 billion in royalties.
• State regulation of the domestic energy activities has effectively protected the environment and public health for over a century.
• Potential new regulations now circling around Washington could:

o        Force the closure of more than half of America’s oil wells and a third of our gas wells

o        Cost the federal government $4 billion in revenue; state treasuries would lose $785 million

o        Slash domestic oil production by 183,000 barrels per day; natural gas by 245 billion cubic feet per year

For more information on Project BRIEF and to learn more about American energy production, visit www.EnergyInDepth.org – a first-of-its kind, insider’s look at domestic energy production. It features a virtual well site, a storehouse of interactive features and videos aimed at giving users an up-close view of American oil and natural gas production.

Some of the other features visitors will find useful on Energy In Depth:

• Interactive State-by-State Map: Includes data on how many jobs would be at risk and how much annual tax and royalty revenue each state would stand to lose under regulations currently being considered in both state and federal legislatures.

• Frac In Depth/Environment In Depth: A stand-alone section devoted to the who, what, when, how, and where of a drilling practice known as hydraulic fracturing – along with a separate section detailing recent breakthroughs in technology that are allowing producers to protect and preserve our environment. Hydraulic fracturing is responsible for delivering 30 percent of America’s oil and natural gas, and has aided in the extraction of more than 600 trillion cubic feet of natural gas and seven billion barrels of oil over the history of its use.

• Comprehensive Energy Research Library: The product of months of independent research and hundreds of hours of document assembly, the library brings together reports, studies and hard-to-find analyses to complement the site’s already established content.

Welcome to Energy In Depth

In the time it will take you to read this message, America’s small and independent oil and natural gas producers will have utilized advanced technologies and innovative engineering to safely produce enough energy to heat your home for 210 years, fuel your car for five, and create 52 new jobs along the way.

Plenty of sites have been created to celebrate these accomplishments; others, to malign them. Energy In Depth was created to explain them – to tell the real story of the people responsible for producing energy in America. Brought to you by thousands of small, independent, American energy producers, Energy In Depth separates fact from fiction by giving visitors a virtual, first-hand look at the production process: unvarnished, up close, and yes: in depth.

In the 150 years since Edwin Drake used a 32-foot iron pipe to develop America’s first commercial oil well, those who produce America’ s energy have relied on cutting-edge science and technology to fuel our economy and improve our standards of living. As our country’s energy needs have grown, so too has our commitment to meeting them, and meeting them safely. Today’s technologies enable us to reach energy supplies at depths measured in miles, not feet, with a surgical precision that delivers higher yields and a cleaner environment at the same time.  (more…)