Reid Porter | 202.682.8114 | porterr@api.org

WASHINGTON, December 14, 2011—Erik Milito, API's group director of upstream and industry operations, today issued the following statement on the federal government's lease sale in the Gulf of Mexico, the first oil and natural gas lease sale in the Western Gulf since August 2009:  

"Holding the first oil and natural gas lease sale in the Western Gulf of Mexico in two years is a positive step. If given access with a dedicated approach toward increasing domestic offshore oil and natural gas production, our industry can generate more than $300 billion in additional revenue for the government by 2030 and add to the 9.2 million American jobs that we already support.  

"This is an opportunity to build the foundation for our nation's economic recovery and encourage investment in U.S. energy resources. We look forward to seeing the results of this lease sale and to working with the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management and the administration towards a more robust national energy plan."  

API represents more than 490 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.