Jack Gerard Press Call Remarks to Release Union Pipeline Jobs Study

Press call statement
Jack Gerard, API president and CEO
Joint call with Sean McGarvey on NABTU pipeline jobs study
August 15, 2017

(as prepared for delivery)

API has been working closely with Sean and North America’s Building Trades Unions through the oil and gas industry labor-management committee which is a collaborative effort to promote job creation and retention throughout the industry.  Today’s study is further evidence of this collaborative effort.

Today, President Trump is set to sign an executive order aimed at streamlining the permitting process for infrastructure projects. We applaud these efforts that will help create jobs and help continue the U.S. energy renaissance. America’s natural gas and oil industry supported 10.3 million U.S. jobs in 2015 and right now we are leading the world in the production and refining of oil and natural gas. Promoting America’s energy infrastructure will help continue America’s energy leadership into the future.

As the new study confirms, building new pipelines will create thousands of jobs for America’s skilled craft professionals across all 50 states. These are good-paying, middle class-sustaining jobs that do not rely on taxpayer dollars.

By delivering affordable, reliable energy to homes and businesses, energy infrastructure will continue to generate economic benefits for decades – making it an especially valuable long-term investment.

Nationwide, reliable access to energy has helped drive down utility, product and other energy-related costs for families, contributing to a $1337 boost to the average American household budget in 2015. U.S. industrial electricity costs are 30-50 percent lower than those of our foreign competitors, giving manufacturers a major competitive advantage.

Pipelines are one of the safest, most efficient ways to transport the energy the U.S. economy needs, delivering crude oil, petroleum products and natural gas at a safety rate of 99.999 percent – guided by API’s robust, globally recognized standards program referenced more than 430 times in federal regulations, including the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration.

And pipelines contribute to cleaner air. Carbon emissions from power generation have plunged to nearly 30-year lows, and more than 60 percent of those have been the result of switching to clean natural gas, delivered by pipelines.

President Trump’s actions today to promote energy infrastructure will help American workers, American consumers, and the environment benefit from our nation’s vast energy resources. We look forward to working with the administration on modernizing our nation’s energy infrastructure.

Now, we’ll be happy to take your questions.