API President Sommers talks Penn. natural gas and oil at Economic Club

American Petroleum Institute (API) President and CEO Mike Sommers highlighted the role of Pennsylvania’s natural gas and oil industry in the U.S. effort to provide affordable reliable energy during a speech to the Economic Club of Pittsburgh Wednesday.

In connection with Climate Week NYC, Sommers said the state’s natural gas and oil also help reduce greenhouse gas emissions and should be a part of the solution to shaping a lower-carbon future globally.

“Pittsburgh is one of the energy capitals of the world. Without Pennsylvania energy resources, America wouldn’t be the world’s top producer of natural gas and oil — reversing decades of foreign imports,” Sommers said. “Without support from Pennsylvania natural gas, America couldn’t have reduced power-related CO2 emissions 40% in the past 15 years — outpacing coal as the top source of U.S. electricity generation. And … America wouldn’t be in a position to continue exporting environmental progress — in the form of LNG — all over the world to power both a growing population and reverse energy poverty.”

The second largest state producer of natural gas in the U.S., Pennsylvania energy production powers local economies throughout the state. The industry supports nearly 500,000 direct, indirect and induced jobs in Pennsylvania and generates an additional 3.7 jobs elsewhere in the state. Natural gas and oil contribute $78.4 billion to the state’s economy, or nearly 10 percent of the state’s total GDP.

“But the transformation isn’t limited to Pennsylvania. The shale revolution has spread and revitalized America. Import terminals became export terminals. America reduced its trade deficit. U.S. greenhouse gas emissions are at generational lows. We reduced our energy dependence on foreign nations and unreliable regimes. And in the process, the state’s environmental progress transformed the world. In 2019, federal estimates show that natural gas from Pennsylvania’s Marcellus and Utica Shale has been shipped out to 20 different countries,” Sommers said.

Sommers said the natural gas and oil industry is working to provide solutions to solve the world’s growing energy needs, while working to tackle climate change. API advocates for the acceleration of emissions-reducing technologies, encouraging transparency in climate reporting and advancing cleaner fuels, he said. But what is needed, he said, are smart government policies that encourage innovative energy solutions without jeopardizing jobs, increasing energy costs and harming American competitiveness.