WASHINGTON, October 15, 2013 – Sixty-seven percent of voters in Virginia support offshore drilling for domestic oil and natural gas resources, according to a new poll conducted by Harris Interactive for API’s “What America is Thinking on Energy Issues” series. This support bridged across party lines, with clear majorities of Republicans (81 percent), Democrats (52 percent) and Independents (71 percent) all in favor of offshore drilling.

“Virginia has an opportunity to expand its energy portfolio both on and offshore,” said Mike Ward, executive director of the Virginia Petroleum Council. “We could bring good-paying jobs to the Old Dominion and diversify our economy simply by allowing more oil and natural gas production to occur in our state and off our shores.”

In Virginia, 88 percent of voters also say producing more oil and natural gas here at home is important. Again, there was broad agreement between Republicans (92 percent), Democrats (81 percent) and Independents (91 percent).

The Obama administration will soon begin work on its next five-year offshore leasing plan, in which areas of the Atlantic Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) from Delaware to northern Florida could be made available for oil and natural gas leasing. Early next year, the administration is also expected to decide whether to permit seismic surveys in this area for the first time in 30 years.

Seismic surveys, which have been used safely around the world without injury to marine mammals, are the most accurate method available to prospect for oil and natural gas reserves offshore apart from drilling. More accurate survey data makes offshore energy production safer and more efficient by reducing its environmental footprint. Technological advances and data collection improvements since seismic surveys were last conducted in the U.S. Atlantic OCS have rendered old resource estimates obsolete.

The Virginia Petroleum Council is a division of API, which represents all segments of America’s technology-driven oil and natural gas industry. Its more than 550 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 9.8 million U.S. jobs and 8 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.

Methodology The telephone study was conducted on September 24-29, 2013 by Harris Interactive on behalf of the American Petroleum Institute (API) among 616 registered voters in Virginia, with a sampling error of +/- 4 percent. Harris Interactive is one of the world’s leading custom market research firms, known widely for the Harris Poll. For more information, visit www.harrisinteractive.com.

"What America is Thinking on Energy Issues" is a public opinion series provided by API, offering data to inform policy discussions and ensure policymakers and others know Americans' perspectives on key energy issues.