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API Unveils 10-Point Policy Plan to Restore U.S. Energy Leadership, Fuel Economic Recovery

American Petroleum Institute (API), June 15, 2022

This week, the American Petroleum Institute (API) 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. Given today’s global unrest and economic uncertainty, American energy is a long-term strategic asset that can advance our national and economic security,” said API President and CEO Mike Sommers. “These 10 in ’22 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 and 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. 

API has recommended that policymakers immediately take the following ten actions in order to restore U.S. energy leadership and help fulfill our great nation’s core promise: 

  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 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 and 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.

Click here to view the plan.

About API

API represents all segments of America’s natural gas and oil industry, which supports more than 11 million U.S. jobs and is backed by a growing grassroots movement of millions of Americans. Our nearly 600 members produce, process and distribute the majority of the nation’s energy, and participate in API Energy Excellence®, which is accelerating environmental and safety progress by fostering new technologies and transparent reporting. API was formed in 1919 as a standards-setting organization and has developed more than 800 standards to enhance operational and environmental safety, efficiency and sustainability.


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