API: Idle leases do not exist

API: Idle leases do not exist
There is no such thing as an idle lease, the American Petroleum Institute said in response to President Barack Obama's speech Wednesday detailing a comprehensive energy plan. Obama cited an Interior Department study saying the industry has several nonproducing offshore and onshore leases. "The administration's report assumes that oil and natural gas are spread uniformly across the lease acreage -- suggesting that 70% of idle leases equates to 70% idled resources," said Erik Milito, API's upstream director. FuelFix.com