House-Passed Energy Bills Ultimately Fail Consumers, Energy Security Mission

NPRA, the National Petrochemical & Refiners Association, Executive Vice President Charles T. Drevna today commented on the energy package passed by the U.S. House of Representatives.

“H.R. 3221 and H.R. 2776 threaten domestic energy supplies, and will actually increase America’s reliance on foreign energy,” Drevna said. “Domestic refiners are vigorously expanding gasoline production capacity to meet the nation’s ever-growing demand. After years of decline, domestic oil and gas production are on the upswing, due in part to the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (EPACT). In fact, according to the Energy Information Administration, gasoline production reached an all-time weekly high in late June, averaging about 9.4 million barrels a day, and production for the first half of the year reached an all-time high [9 million barrels a day], roughly 700,000 barrels a day more than the same period four years ago [8.3 million barrels a day]. That increase in domestic production is a victory for American consumers.

“These bills turn back the clock by raising taxes on America’s oil and gas industry, imposing onerous fees and additional restrictions on domestic energy production, and threatening to halt domestic oil and gas production by nullifying existing contracts. Such policies will drive energy production and petrochemical businesses overseas thus hurting the economy, increasing our reliance on foreign oil and threatening, not enhancing, American energy security.”

NPRA members include more than 450 companies, including virtually all US refiners and petrochemical manufacturers. Our members supply consumers with a wide variety of products and services used daily in their homes and businesses. These products include gasoline, diesel fuel, home heating oil, jet fuel, lubricants and the chemicals that serve as “building blocks” in making everything from plastics to clothing to medicine to computers.