Irresponsible Speculation Threatens Thousands of Gulf Jobs

Oil Spill Commission final report verifies BP made missteps, but threatens whole industry

WASHINGTON, Jan. 11, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The President's National Oil Spill Commission released its final report today into the causes of the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf. The report cites reckless behavior in the design, operation, and management of the well as the causes leading up to the spill, and goes on to speculate that these problems could be industry wide. Commenting on these developments, Thomas Pyle, President of the American Energy Alliance, made the following statement:

"All the evidence in the report points to a complete and total failure by the legally responsible leaseholder, BP, to operate within industry best practices. Attempts to paint this as an industry problem reflect the biases of the activist-filled commission, and not the reality of drilling operations in the Gulf," said Pyle.

"The broad and unsubstantiated accusation on the entire oil and gas industry is irresponsible when one considers that literally thousands of jobs are on the line in the Gulf, should the bureaucratic hold on offshore drilling continue," said Pyle. "Punishing the beleaguered region with more federal roadblocks only compounds the damage already done to the Gulf economy."

Founded in May, 2008, The American Energy Alliance ("AEA") is a not-for-profit organization that engages in grassroots public policy advocacy and debate concerning energy and environmental policies.  AEA is the advocacy arm of the Institute for Energy Research (IER), a not-for-profit organization – founded in 1989 – that conducts intensive research and analysis on the functions, operations, and government regulation of global energy markets.

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