For Immediate Release
January 23, 2012
WASHINGTON DC — The U.S. Energy Information Administration published today the 2012 Annual Energy Outlook, which provides updated projections for U.S. energy markets through 2035. IER President Thomas Pyle released the following statement concerning the report:
“The announcement today from the Energy Information Administration that U.S. oil production will grow to more than 6.7 million barrels per day by 2020 is good news for American consumers and the unemployed. Over the last three years, innovative technology has nurtured an energy-based job boom in places like North Dakota, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. No doubt, the President is going to trumpet this report in tomorrow’s State of the Union address.
“But the devil is in the details. More than 80 percent of the new production in 2020 is expected to come from onshore drilling on private and state lands, while federally-controlled offshore and Alaskan production lag far behind. Of course, energy production is increasing onshore because of new exploration on private and state lands that are beyond the reach of the environmental radicals who populate the federal bureaucracy. Indeed, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar and EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson continue to block federal lands — both onshore and offshore — from energy exploration, and they’re just getting started.
“As a result, oil production on federal lands is down 13 percent from 2010, and offshore lease sales have plummeted to historic lows. The losses due to the Obama administration’s death-grip on offshore drilling and its unwillingness to open federal lands or issue timely permits for exploration far outweigh any energy gains that the White House may tout this week.
“America’s energy future can be bright. North America is the most energy-rich place on earth and the envy of every OPEC nation. The double-speak that the Obama administration offers on domestic production — taking credit for increased production while doing everything in its power to stop production and regulate fracturing technologies out of existence — would be laughable if it didn’t mean that millions of good-paying American jobs were on the White House chopping block.”
