WASHINGTON, June 6, 2013 – Erik Milito, API director of upstream and industry operations, acknowledged the BLM’s 60 day extension for comments related to the proposed hydraulic fracturing rule released in May and said that many questions remain unanswered: 

    “Industry will need the time to effectively review and comment on all of the existing various state and federal agency regulatory activities that overlap with much of what BLM is proposing. States have led the way in regulating hydraulic fracturing operations while protecting communities and the environment for decades. 

    “Many questions still remain as this new rule has the potential to significantly slow domestic energy production, as well as damage national, state, and local economies. An additional layer of regulation must be carefully scrutinized and the last thing we need are rules that create confusion in the regulatory process.”

API is a national trade association that represents all segments of America’s technology-driven oil and natural gas industry. Its more than 500 members – including large integrated companies, exploration and production, refining, marketing, pipeline, and marine businesses, and service and supply firms – provide most of the nation’s energy. The industry also supports 9.2 million U.S. jobs and 7.7 percent of the U.S. economy, delivers $85 million a day in revenue to our government, and, since 2000, has invested over $2 trillion in U.S. capital projects to advance all forms of energy, including alternatives.