Industry officials were disappointed in President Obama’s jobs speech Thursday, saying their pleas for him to make oil and natural gas the “centerpiece” of his jobs-creation effort fell largely on deaf ears.

“The president missed an opportunity to pick the low-hanging fruit of job creation,” said Jack Gerard, CEO of the American Petroleum Institute (API), which represents major oil and gas producers. “Allowing the responsible development of more of America’s…domestic oil and natural gas resources could generate more than one million new jobs in just seven years, with thousands of shovel-ready jobs that could be created almost immediately.”

Gerard cited a study by Wood Mackenzie that showed more than 1.4 million new jobs, $800 billion in Treasury revenue and 10 billion bbl of oil and gas production could be added by 2030 with more flexible federal rules. The study, which was released last Wednesday in advance of Obama’s speech, was commissioned by API.

In the near term, Wood Mackenzie said more flexible energy policies would lead to the addition of approximately 1 million jobs by 2018, and an additional $36 billion to the federal coffers by 2015.

During the address Obama signaled that repeal of tax incentives for oil and gas was high on his agenda. “Should we keep tax loopholes for oil companies?” he asked.

“Raising taxes on an industry that already contributes more than $86 million every day to the federal government takes us in the wrong direction,” Gerard said. “It could put American jobs at risk, decrease oil and natural gas production, harm millions of retirees who rely on income from energy companies and actually reduce revenue to the government over time.”

Gerard said the oil and gas industry actually created jobs in August, when there was zero net jobs created in the overall economy, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The Natural Gas Council (NCC), which represents five major gas associations (the American Gas Association, America’s Natural Gas Alliance, the Independent Petroleum Association of America, the Interstate Natural Gas Association of America and the Natural Gas Supply Association), also decried Obama’s speech.

The NCC called on Obama to take several steps to support continued natural gas job creation and revenues:

“Despite the clear economic, jobs and energy benefits provided by one of the few expanding American industries, the president again proposed to strip sway 25% of the capital used to develop America’s essential natural gas,” the NCC said. Independent producers especially are concerned that a host of tax incentives for oil and gas will be on the chopping block: intangible drilling costs, percentage depletion, Section 199 manufacturing tax credit and marginal well tax credit.

If U.S. policy towards energy continues along its current path (current path case), the consulting firm of Wood Mackenzie predicts that domestic production will grow at a slow rate to 22.2 MMboe/d in 2030 from 18.5 MMboe/d in 2010. This scenario assumes the continuation of many of the current drilling restrictions, regulatory burdens and the moratorium on shale gas development in New York.

But if the U.S. were to enact policies that encourage domestic oil and gas development, Wood Mackenzie said it expects domestic production to grow 76% to 32.6 million boe/d from 18.5 MMboe/d in 2010. The 2030 projection in this scenario — called the development policy case — is about 10 million boe/d more than what was forecast for the current path case.

The development policy case assumes that the drilling moratorium in New York will be lifted to allow development of the Marcellus Shale in that state; permitting will increase in the Gulf of Mexico; regulation of shale resources will remain predominately at the state level; and the Keystone XL and other future Canada-to-U.S. oil pipelines will be approved, according to Wood Mackenzie.

Policies enacted under the development policy case could increase natural gas production to 96.9 Bcf/d by 2030 from 60.1 Bcf/d in 2010, according to Wood Mackenzie. That’s 22.4 Bcf/d more than if the country had remained on its current energy path, it noted.

In a related development last Wednesday, a coalition of 17 industry groups called on Obama to make “responsible and effective” oil and natural gas exploration in the Gulf of Mexico and elsewhere a “centerpiece of your jobs agenda.”

“One policy initiative that simultaneously creates high-paying jobs and increases revenues into federal coffers would be to improve efficiency and the rate of permitting activity in the Gulf of Mexico to a rate that is commensurate with industry’s ability to invest,” the group said.

“Mr. President, some in your administration dispute the actual rate of permitting in the Gulf of Mexico. However, the rate of approval of exploration plans is down 85%, and the median approval time has slipped from 36 days to 131 days. Rigs are actually leaving the Gulf for greater business certainty in places like Egypt, Congo and Nigeria. We would prefer less dispute over numbers and more action on permits if this situation is to reverse,” said the coalition.

Coalition members included the Offshore Marine Service Association, Associated Industries of Florida, Louisiana Oil & Gas Association, Industrial Energy Consumers of America, American Association of Petroleum Geologists, Consumer Energy Alliance, International Association of Drilling Contractors, Louisiana Mid-Continent Oil and Gas Association, Gulf Economic Survival Team, National Ocean Industries Association, 60 Plus Association, Shallow Water Energy Security Coalition, Shipbuilders Council of America, Independent Petroleum Association of America, Manufacturers Association of Florida, National Association of Manufacturers and The Fertilizer Institute.

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