Carlton Carroll | 202.682.8114 | carrollc@api.org

WASHINGTON, September 8, 2011 – As President Obama prepares to address Congress and the nation about  his proposals for creating jobs, API released a copy of a letter it sent  to President Obama last week  reminding him that America's energy industry is critical to the success of any proposal to address the nation's  unemployment problem.

"As you prepare to announce your proposal to address the persistently high unemployment rate and support American job creation, remember that energy and America's energy industry is critical to making it happen," wrote API President and CEO Jack Gerard.

In the letter, Gerard pointed out that the oil and natural gas industry can be an ally in the president's goal of jumpstarting job creation in America.  He highlighted a study released this week by Wood Mackenzie, sponsored by API, which shows that with responsible development of America's own vast domestic resources, the oil and natural gas industry can create an additional one million jobs in the next seven years and 1.4 million additional jobs by 2030. The study also finds the new development would create an additional $800 billion in government revenue by 2030.

"The oil and natural gas industry is already a critical driver of economic growth and job creation: we support 9.2 million jobs and more than $1 trillion in economic activity annually," Gerard said in the letter. "We can do more of both– and increase our revenues to the federal government – through common sense policies that promote development and production of our domestic energy resources and Canada's oil sands, while protecting our national parks and fragile ecosystems."

API represents more than 480 oil and natural gas companies, leaders of a technology-driven industry that supplies most of America's energy, supports 9.2 million U.S. jobs and 7.7 percent of the U.S. economy, delivers more than $86 million a day in revenue to our government, and, since 2000, has invested more than $2 trillion in U.S. capital projects to advance all forms of energy, including alternatives.