API congratulates Obama on election win

President Barack Obama, photo by Pete Souza

Calling energy ‘a big winner,' U.S. energy industry advocates API congratulated President Barack Obama on his re-election in an announcement on 7 November 2012.

API president Jack Gerard said the group looks forward to working with the Obama administration to expand oil and gas production. In a statement, Gerard presented a number of ways the president can accomplish this goal, including the approval of the controversial Keystone XL pipeline.

‘Right off the bat, the president can approve the Keystone Pipeline and put thousands of Americans to work immediately,' Gerard said.

The Obama administration rejected TransCanada's application to build the 1,661-mile Keystone XL pipeline in January. The company has since reapplied, even proposing a new route in September that would bypass the Nebraska Sandhills, a location that has been a source of contention among environmentalists. Work is currently underway on the $2.3 billion Gulf Coast pipeline segment that will eventually send oil from Cushing, Oklahoma, to Port Arthur, Texas.

Gerard also urged the president to avoid unnecessary regulations on the shale industry.

‘[Obama] can acknowledge the effective role states are already playing in regulating oil and natural gas production and avoid the temptation to impose duplicative and unnecessary regulations on hydraulic fracturing,' Gerard said. ‘By following through on his own executive order to eliminate overly burdensome regulations, he can rein in EPA's plans to impose regulatory burdens that could cost businesses hundreds of billions of dollars and chill economic growth.

‘The domestic energy from shale boom is just beginning. We have an unprecedented opportunity to work together to create millions of new jobs, generate hundreds of billions of dollars for our government, and strengthen our energy and national security. With the right public policies, this could be a game changer for America.'

Obama won his re-election bid over challenger Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney with 303 electoral votes and 50% of the popular vote on Tuesday night.