API unveils ten-point policy plan to restore U.S. energy leadership, fuel economic recovery

Craig Fleming, Technical Editor, World Oil 6/14/2022

WASHINGTON D.C. — The American Petroleum Institute on Tuesday released a “10 in 2022 plan”—10 policies that policymakers can advance today to unlock American energy, fuel economic recovery, and strengthen national security. As energy costs and geopolitical instability around the world continue to rise, API is calling on policymakers to confront the global mismatch between energy demand and available supply that has driven higher fuel prices by supporting greater U.S. production and infrastructure.

“America is blessed with abundant energy resources that are the envy of the world,” said API President and CEO Mike Sommers. “Given today’s global unrest and economic uncertainty, American energy is a long-term strategic asset that can advance our national and economic security. “These ‘10 in 2022’ policies are a framework for new energy leadership for our nation, unleashing investment in America and creating new energy access while avoiding harmful government policies and duplicative regulation. It’s time to lead.”

In a letter to President Biden, Sommers highlighted the economic importance of American oil and natural gas resources, supporting more than 11 million U.S. jobs, investing billions in the U.S. economy, and powering “our way of life.” He urged the administration to act immediately to implement the 10 policies that support energy investment, create new access and keep government policies from unnecessarily restricting energy growth.

Here are the 10 actions that policymakers can take right now:

1. Lift development restrictions on federal lands and waters. The Department of the Interior (DOI) should swiftly issue a 5-year program for the Outer Continental Shelf and hold mandated, quarterly, onshore lease sales with equitable terms. DOI should reinstate canceled sales and valid leases on federal lands and waters.
2. Designate critical energy infrastructure projects. Congress should authorize critical energy infrastructure projects to support the production, processing and delivery of energy. These projects would be of such concern to the national interest that they would be entitled to undergo a streamlined review and permitting process not to exceed one year.
3. Fix the NEPA permitting process. The Biden administration should revise the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) process by establishing agency uniformity in reviews, limiting reviews to two years, and reducing bureaucratic burdens placed on project proponents in terms of size and scope of application submissions.
4. Accelerate LNG exports and approve pending LNG applications. Congress should amend the Natural Gas Act to streamline the Department of Energy (DOE) to a single approval process for all U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG) projects. DOE should approve pending LNG applications to enable the U.S. to deliver reliable energy to our allies abroad.
5. Unlock investment and access to capital. The Securities and Exchange Commission should reconsider its overly burdensome and ineffective climate disclosure proposal. The Biden administration should ensure open capital markets, where access is based upon individual company merit free from artificial constraints, based on government-preferred investment allocations.
6. Dismantle supply chain bottlenecks. President Biden should rescind steel tariffs that remain on imports from U.S. allies, as steel is a critical component of energy production, transportation, and refining. The Biden administration should accelerate efforts to relieve port congestion, so that equipment necessary for energy development can be delivered and installed.
7. Advance lower-carbon energy tax provisions. Congress should expand and extend Section 45Q tax credits for carbon capture, utilization, and storage development and create a new tax credit for hydrogen produced from all sources.
8. Protect competition in the use of refining technologies. The Biden administration should ensure that future federal agency rulemakings continue to allow U.S. refineries to use the existing critical process technologies to produce the fuels needed for global energy markets.
9. End permitting obstruction on natural gas projects. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission should cease efforts to overstep its permitting authority under the Natural Gas Act and should adhere to traditional considerations of public needs, as well as focus on direct impacts arising from the construction and operation of natural gas projects.
10. Advance the energy workforce of the future. Congress and the Biden administration should support the training and education of a diverse workforce through increased funding of work-based learning and advancement of STEM programs to nurture the skills necessary to construct and operate oil, natural gas and other energy infrastructure.

“While members of your administration have recently discussed the need for additional supplies to solve the energy crisis, your administration has restricted oil and natural gas development, canceled energy infrastructure projects, imposed regulatory uncertainty and proposed new tax increases on American oil and gas producers competing globally. Respectfully, the American people need a different direction to solve this crisis,” Sommers continued in his letter to President Biden.

“API’s ‘10 in 2022 Plan’ outlined above offers this new direction,” emphasized Sommers. “The plan has the potential to lead to an era of collaboration between the government and the private sector to meet our growing energy needs and to provide a measure of relief for the American people. We request the opportunity to work with your administration to help maintain the United States’ essential leadership position in the world.”