American Petroleum Institute (API), a leading oil industry group, on Monday urged the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to approve natural gas exports, which would be "an unequivocal plus" for U.S. economic growth and job creation.

"We have plenty of natural gas to meet our domestic needs and to export a substantial amount to buyers abroad," Erik Milito, API group director for upstream and industry operations, told reporters Monday afternoon. "We continue to urge the U.S. Department of Energy to approve pending applications for authorization to export".

"The most recent data from DOE confirms that supplies will be very robust. This implies there is more than sufficient natural gas to meet domestic and export needs with little adverse impact on prices," he said.

Milito also noted that the net potential economic benefits of exports natural gas were very substantial, including an average of 213,000 new jobs per year for 2015 through 2035 and a cumulative 700 billion U.S. dollars in Gross Domestic Product growth over the same period, citing the preliminary recent analysis from consulting firm ICF.

API represents more than 500 oil and natural gas companies that supply most of the U.S. energy and support an estimated 7.7 percent of the U.S. economy. Endi

Go to Forum >>0 Comment(s)