Petroleum group launches new national ad campaign to tell its story

The American Petroleum Institute has decided to get involved in the Presidential campaigns making sure its side of the energy and climate story is told. Expect to see its story told in national TV and radio advertisements.

It has launched “Energy for Progress,” a nationwide TV and digital ad campaign highlighting the natural gas and oil industry’s leadership in reducing emissions to record low levels and supporting economic and environmental progress in local communities. The new campaign was unveiled as more than 800 government, labor and industry leaders gathered for API’s annual State of American Energy event in Washington this week.

“From Colorado and New Mexico to Ohio and Pennsylvania, natural gas and oil development is energizing economies and improving millions of lives,” API President and CEO Mike Sommers said in remarks prepared for delivery. “Wherever the future of energy is at stake, whenever people doubt the value of natural gas and oil in our daily lives, wherever our commitment to worker and environmental safety is questioned, you’re going to see API making our case. We’re ready to work together. We may not agree on every detail, but on the big issues, we have far more in common than you may think.”

The new campaign will go into rotation on broadcast and cable news, digital, radio, airports and outdoor billboards in markets across the country. The campaign will include reports and digital content highlighting the industry’s commitment to working together to solve America’s greatest energy and environmental challenges.

In addition to the campaign, API released a new report showcasing local communities that have benefited from the American energy revolution and calling for policy solutions that support, rather than hinder, U.S. energy leadership.

According to a new API analysis, the natural gas and oil industry now supports 10.9 million American jobs. Proposals to ban hydraulic fracturing would cost up to 7.3 million of those jobs, based on API’s preliminary findings.

The event featured a panel discussion by advocates for labor, manufacturing, small business and skilled trades, including Mike Rowe, TV host and narrator and founder of the mikeroweWORKS Foundation; Terry O’Sullivan, general president of the Laborers’ International Union of North America (LiUNA); Leslie Beyer, president of the Petroleum Equipment and Services Association; and Karen Kerrigan, president and CEO of the Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council. The panelists discussed the critical role of natural gas and oil in supporting manufacturing, growing small businesses and creating good-paying jobs, and how a fracking ban would undermine this progress.