Drilling Ahead-Who Should We Elect As President?

Oct 25th

As the election of November 6th nears I feel a responsibility to our membership to officially endorse a candidate.

There are broader issues to this election than just that of drilling for oil and gas but I believe our endorsement of a candidate should reflect that candidates views and policies toward domestic energy production. After all, domestic energy is our lifeblood.

President Obama, earlier this year and again in recent debates, has taken credit for the record levels of oil production here in the United States so we have to ask ourselves if the claims of this President are truthful.

Here are the facts I consider

When President Obama took office almost 4 years ago he quickly closed Federal lands to drilling that President Bush had opened only months before, citing that current drilling methods were not proven safe.

Days after being elected, President Obama rejected a two-year EPA study conducted by the Bush administration that found hydraulic fracturing or "fracking" as being safe to the environment. President Obama then staffed the EPA with his own personnel and ordered a new study by the EPA. It's been almost 4 years now and still this Obama "study" continues without conclusion while under fire from critics who say preliminary results have always been skewed to the anti-drilling agenda.

During his first year in office President Obama took to the international spotlight with his "Cap & Trade" agenda which amounted to the largest tax in history on all oil & gas producers. This legislation would have devastated domestic drilling while increasing energy prices on American consumers at a time when many were saving every possible penny to keep their homes out of foreclosure. Though Obama gave this initiative his total support, any real legislation failed.

After a drilling safety record in the Gulf of Mexico that spanned 40 years, the drilling industry was hit with the tragedy of the BP Macondo blowout which costs the lives of 11 of our own and was an environmental disaster. Despite an industry 40 year safety record and  pleas from those in his own party, President Obama quickly banned drilling in the Gulf of Mexico, putting those dependent on the industry out of work. A Federal judge ruled the Presidents ban as unconstitutional and struck it down-to which President Obama replied by creating a new ban  (despite a stern warning from the Federal judge). During the blowout and kill process President Obama proposed plans that showed total ignorance of understanding for our industry.

The President's plans included "requiring drillers to drill a relief well BEFORE actually drilling the intended well." Today we are still trying to recover from this unconstitutional ban and lack of basic industry knowledge.

During the ban on drilling in the Gulf of Mexico, President Obama guaranteed billions of dollars in loans to Brazil so they could pursue their own offshore drilling program. The President announced on National TV that by securing these loans for Brazil he had guaranteed oil for America"s future. Shortly after receiving the loans, Brazil announced they would be selling their oil to China.

President Obama has gone on camera numerous times calling out oil & gas producers as "greedy" and claiming they need to "pay their fair share" even though the industry pays billions in Federal taxes annually and never asked for or received a dime in his "bail-out money".

President Obama has tried to remove tax incentives that have been in place for many years to encourage domestic drilling, purposely referring incorrectly to these tax incentives many times as "subsidies" inferring to the public that money is being taken from their paychecks to give to oil and gas producers. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Despite President Obama's declared concern for growing carbon emissions he has denied any support for the Natural Gas Act which would encourage the use of our domestic natural gas as a transportation fuel, drastically lower carbon emissions here in the United States and free us from dependency on foreign oil. One has to wonder the logic of this decision.

President Obama struck down the Keystone Pipeline which would have benefited North American oil producers and created tens of thousands of badly needed jobs.

Even as late as this year we lost our nations coveted AAA credit rating because President Obama refused any plan that did not include raising taxes on American oil and gas producers.

Even though President Obama continues to take credit for America's increased oil output in limelights and debates, he has yet to mention why our national rig count was down over 174 drilling rigs over this same time last year.

It has been obvious to anyone in our industry who has followed the Presidents actions over the last 4 years that President Obama has intentionally tried to bankrupt America's oil & gas producers in his attempts to raise energy prices so that his pet peeve solar projects would be profitable.

No doubt oil production in the United States and North America has increased over the last 4 years but the praise for this belongs to the private sector companies that have developed the technology to unlock tight shale deposits and recover the oil through horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing. 

President Obama has tried to thwart this technology from the moment he was elected.

It's because of these actions that we cannot support President Obama claims that "he is responsible" for increased oil production in the United States over the last 4 years, nor can we support him in his bid for a second term "President of the same".

In a contrast to President Obama's lack of knowledge and anti hydrocarbon agenda, Republican Mitt Romney has a plan that supports drilling in America which includes a timeline for American energy independence that allows opening lands to drilling previously closed by President Obama, supporting the technology that allows us to get at the oil and gas trapped beneath our feet and creating jobs so that we can feed our families.

As creator of Drilling Ahead I encourage you to get out and vote on November 6th, if it's your hitch to work-then vote early by absentee. No election in our lifetime has been as important to our industry and this nation. Each vote casts great importance in this tight election.

Please cast that vote for Republican Mitt Romney to support drilling in America.

To learn more about Mitt Romney please click the political banner below