As Congress begins debate on energy issues, such as access to the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) and the repeal of tax breaks, the American Petroleum Institute (API) Thursday told lawmakers that any legislative action detrimental to oil and gas would take a significant toll on an already faltering economy.

The reason: the total value-added contribution of the oil and gas industry to the national economy was more than $1 trillion, or 7.5% of the U.S. gross domestic produce in 2007, the most recent year for which data was available, according to a report commissioned by API and prepared by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC).

“The economic impact of the oil and natural gas industry reaches all 50 states and the District of Columbia,” PwC said in the report released Thursday. The top 15 states, in terms of the total number of jobs directly or indirectly attributable to the oil and 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, according to the report.

API President Jack Gerard called on Congress to keep the study’s findings in mind as it debates greater domestic oil and gas access and higher energy taxes. A House Natural Resources subcommittee held a hearing Wednesday on legislation to expand producer access in the OCS (see Daily GPI, Sept. 10). And the Senate Finance subcommittee was scheduled to hold a hearing Thursday on the Obama administration’s proposal to repeal $33 billion in producer tax breaks over the next decade (see Daily GPI, March 31).

“Congress should remember 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,” Gerard said.

“Irresponsible proposals to pile new taxes on the industry threaten these jobs and the nation’s ability to produce more of its own energy,” he said.

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