Energy and the Economy
ExxonMobil’s earnings: Beyond the bottom line
ExxonMobil is scheduled to report third-quarter earnings tomorrow, and earnings day usually attracts quite a bit of media attention and political comment. While the debate often centers on the numbers that show the size and profitability of the oil and gas industry, I’ve found there’s far less focus on what such numbers mean for the U.S. economy as a whole.
10 little known – or often ignored – facts about gas prices and ExxonMobil’s earnings
It’s quarterly earnings season for many energy companies, which means it’s also the season to be alert to those who will seek to misinform or mischaracterize our earnings for their own political purposes. So I thought I’d share with you what I think are some of the little known – or often ignored – facts about gas prices, the oil and gas industry, and ExxonMobil in particular.
Keystone State holds key to job creation: shale gas development
This morning I had the opportunity to speak at the 3rd Marcellus Shale Gas Environmental Summit in Pittsburgh, where much of the discussion centered around shale gas development and job creation. The event offered yet another reminder of an unmistakable fact that many state lawmakers have grasped but some in the U.S. Congress and the media have yet to admit: The innovative combination of hydraulic fracturing and other drilling technologies pioneered by the U.S. oil and gas industry now enables us to tap an enormous domestic energy resource in a safe and environmentally responsible way.
Selling short-sighted tax “solutions” to Super Committee while bypassing billions in real revenue
The political pandering to the “Super Committee” on deficit reduction has kicked into high gear, and it’s not surprising that the U.S. oil and natural gas industry is first on the hit list for some seeking to score easy political points. Some members of both the House and Senate recently sent letters to the committee asking to eliminate what they’ve falsely labeled as “oil subsidies for the five largest, most profitable private oil companies in the world.” But such misinformation campaigns are only a symptom of a much larger and more disturbing problem: the short-sighted nature of proposed “solutions” for the U.S. deficit.
More evidence of the “Marcellus Multiplier” effect
Right on the heels of recent misplaced criticism about how the oil and natural gas industry counts the jobs it helps support comes a report from NPR detailing the multiplier effect of the shale gas industry in Ohio and Pennsylvania. The story highlights the resurgence of the steel industry due to rising shale gas production – an example I mentioned in my blog post earlier this week. But it also delves into the jobs created because of greater investment in steel production.
The oil and gas industry – creating real jobs for real people
A recent article questioning the employment created by oil and natural gas activities might come as a surprise to the 9.2 million Americans whose jobs are supported by our industry. The story, which made its way onto the front page of the Washington Post yesterday, raised questions about the validity of estimates coming from researchers and trade associations because those estimates include jobs that are created in supporting the work of the oil and gas industry – service station employees or steel suppliers who provide raw materials for industry projects are two examples. Last time I checked, a job is a job – and our country needs every one of them.
