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IPFS News Link • Legislative Mischief

Big Oil Pulls Back From Washington?

• Bloomberg

As Americans preparing for Labor Day weekend trips enjoy low gas prices, they might not fail to appreciate another effect of the plummeting price of oil.

It appears to be crimping the style of one of Washington's biggest political players.

The oil industry's influence has been legendary ever since Standard Oil was caricatured as an octopus in an early 20th century cartoon. And in its current incarnation, it has no shortage of demands for Washington: producers are pushing for permission sell more of their wares outside of the U.S.; for more territory to drill in the Arctic and offshore. They're also battling new regulations on fracking, methane, ozone and carbon emissions; and don't forget the Keystone XL pipeline.

"It was just simple belt-tightening."

~Kelly Swan

Yet with oil prices plummeting, drillers have a lot less money to sink into lobbying.

Spending by exploration and production companies dropped 25 percent last quarter from a year earlier, according to an analysis by Jorge Uquillas, an analyst at Bloomberg Government. Oilfield services companies spent 20 percent less, integrated majors trimmed 4 percent, and refiners cut 5 percent.


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