The API commissioned consultants and accountants PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC)  to conduct the study which found that quite apart from the 9 million jobs the industry makes significant economic contributions as an employer and purchaser of American goods and services.

The study entitled “The Economic Impacts of the Oil and Natural Gas Industry on the U.S. Economy: Employment, Labor Income and Value Added”  found that the industry’s total “value-added contribution to the national economy” was more than $1 trillion, or 7.5 percent of the U.S. gross domestic product, in 2007, the most recent year for which data was available.

“The economic impact of the oil and natural gas industry reaches all 50 states and the District of Columbia,” PwC said in the report. “The top 15 states, in terms of the total number of jobs directly or indirectly attributable to the oil and natural gas industry's operations in 2007 were Texas, California, Oklahoma, Louisiana, New York, Pennsylvania, Florida, Illinois, Ohio, Colorado, Michigan, Georgia, North Carolina, Virginia and New Jersey.”

API President Jack Gerard said Congress should keep the study’s findings in mind when it continues to debate greater domestic oil and gas access and higher energy taxes. He said the study “emphasizes the importance the oil and natural gas industry plays in the U.S. economy and in states well beyond traditional oil and gas-producing regions”.

“Congress should remember,” Mr Gerard added, “that some of the energy tax and climate change legislation it has proposed would have a devastating impact on the industry and many of the 9.2 million American jobs it supports, as well as on the American economy and energy security.”

“The people in the U.S. oil and natural gas industry are the backbone of our economy,” He continued. “They provide most of the nation’s energy, spurring growth and job creation across America. At a time of economic recession, the oil and natural gas industry is actually responsible for creating more jobs and generating more revenue to the economy. Irresponsible proposals to pile new taxes on the industry threaten these jobs and the nation’s ability to produce more of its own energy. We should not put any jobs at risk, but especially not when millions of Americans already are unemployed and economic recovery remains uncertain.”