Oil and gas lobbying reaches $72 million in first half of 2024

Oil pump jacks are shown in a field on June 27, 2024 in Stanton, Texas. (Photo by Brandon Bell / Getty Images)

The American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers led the oil and gas industry in federal lobbying expenditures in the first half of 2024, marking the first time the trade association outspent the top individual companies in the industry.

This story was originally published by Open Secrets , a nonpartisan, independent and nonprofit research group tracking money in U.S. politics. It is republished here with permission.

The trade association, which represents 450 fuel refining and petrochemical companies, leads the oil and gas industry with $8.1 million in federal lobbying expenditures over the first half of 2024. This level of spending marks a shift in influence, as individual oil and gas companies have typically outspent the trade association by millions of dollars.

The oil and gas industry altogether spent $72 million on federal lobbying in the first six months of 2024 as the EPA introduced some of its strongest-ever regulations to reduce fossil fuel emissions. The industry is on track to exceed last year’s expenditures, which totaled $137 million after adjustment for inflation, and is the fifth-highest lobbying industry of the year.

The American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers emerged as the top spender after doubling its federal lobbying expenditures from 2022. Between 2016 and 2022, the trade organization spent, on average, $3.4 million annually without adjusting for inflation. In 2023, spending jumped to $6.9 million in 2023.

In the first six months of 2024, the American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers has already spent more on federal lobbying than any prior year.

Historically, American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers has been outspent by its members. Occidental Petroleum spent $12.2 million last year as it lobbied for its controversial carbon capture program. Over 2023 and 2022, Koch Industries — the second-largest private company in the U.S. — spent $19.2 million, and ConocoPhillips spent $16.6 million as it lobbied for its newest oil drilling project in Alaska, which President Joe Biden approved in early 2023. .

In the first half of 2024, Occidental Petroleum spent $1.7 million less than it did in the first half of 2023, but Koch Industries increased its spending by $1.3 million. ConocoPhillips has roughly matched its expenditures from the same period over last year.

Several top lobbying spenders such as Koch Industries, ExxonMobil and Chevron Corporation are members of the American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers.

The expansion of electric vehicles has been a top target of federal lobbying by the American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers and other oil and gas clients. This year, industry clients backed bills to keep the EPA from implementing its new vehicle emissions standards and from specifying which technologies automakers can use to comply with regulations.

In March, the Biden administration announced major new regulations on vehicle emissions, but they do not ban gas cars. Instead, automakers will be required to ensure that the average emissions from their vehicles built between 2027 and 2032 fall below a strict threshold. Under the new rules, it will still be legal to produce, sell, and buy gas cars, but automakers will need to build more electric vehicles and fewer gas vehicles in order to comply.

The American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers ramped up lobbying spending and spent eight figures on a TV ad campaign in swing states against the Biden administration’s “gas car ban.”

“Earlier this year, AFPM launched an issue education campaign to raise consumer awareness about federal and state policies that are designed to phase out and even ban sales of new internal combustion engine vehicles,” a spokesperson for the trade group told OpenSecrets.

The spokesperson noted that “large majorities of Americans oppose government regulations that would ban or limit access to vehicles of their choosing,” citing a recent poll from Pew Research Center.

“Americans deserve to know what policies their government is promulgating and the impacts those policies will have on their lives so that they can contact their elected officials and demand change,” the spokesman said.

Oil and gas clients have also lobbied for the Preserving Choice in Vehicle Purchases Act, which would prevent the EPA from allowing states to set their own vehicle emission standards that limit the sale of new gas cars. The bill challenges California’s plan to phase out the sale of new gas cars by 2035, which more than ten other states plan to adopt .

The American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers argues that Biden’s vehicle policies will limit consumer freedom , harm the environment , and increase reliance on China, the leading producer of EV batteries. Meanwhile, Biden promises that the transition to EVs will bring new green jobs and manufacturing to the U.S.

“This regulation is bad for consumers and their pocketbooks,” the American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers said in a statement about the new EPA vehicle emissions standards. “It’s bad for our energy and national security, and it will have costly and irresponsible repercussions across the U.S. economy.”

Meanwhile, environmental groups have lobbied in favor of the EPA’s vehicle emissions standards, thought they spend less overall on federal lobbying than the oil and gas clients.

In the first six months of 2024, the environmental interests spent $16.3 million on federal lobbying, and the renewable energy industry spent another $30.1 million, collectively totaling about 66% of the oil and gas industry’s lobbying expenditures.

One lobbying client, the Environmental Law & Policy Center , described the EPA vehicle emissions standards as “an essential step toward slashing the emissions driving the climate crisis and harming public health.”

“We need strong actions to protect the climate and avert the worst-case scientific assessments,” the Environmental Law & Policy Center said in a press release about the EPA emission standards. “Climate simply cannot wait.”