YOUR ENERGY

‘Big Oil’ Is Not Big: API

The U.S. energy sector is less profitable than the technology industry, is majority-owned by average Americans and pays more taxes than the rest of the manufacturing sector, says the American Petroleum Institute, a group representing major energy companies. In a strong pre-emptive strike to counter negative news surrounding high corporate earnings in an election year, API argues that, contrary to popular belief, the oil-and-gas sector fares poorly compared to other industries. API research shows the energy sector ranked 11th out of 15 industries in the U.S., in terms of “cents of net income per dollar of sales earned.” The energy lobby group also noted that oil and gas companies’ income tax expenses stood at 40.6%, compared to 25.1% for the rest of the industrials. API also forecast that increasing drilling access would create 1.1 million new jobs and increase energy production by four million bpd by 2020, whereas raising taxes would mean a loss of 48,000 jobs and reduction of oil and gas output by 700,000 bpd during the period.