Oil lobbyists gone wild: Gulf energy interests spending big to influence Congress

Last month, one year after the BP oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, the New Orleans Times-Picayune published a stinging report documenting how little Congress had done in response to the crisis. As the paper concluded:

Congress has done virtually nothing to address the issues raised by the oil spill -- from industry liability limits, to regulatory reform, to coastal restoration, to broader issues of energy policy.

Why the failure to act? The distraction of the 2010 elections, Republican opposition to regulations and a lack of initiative from Democrats all played a role.

Looming behind all of these explanations is the ominous clout of the Gulf oil lobby, which spends millions of dollars in pressuring members of Congress to look out for their interests.

Over the last three years, oil and gas companies overall have dramatically increased their spending on Washington lobbyists. The upswing began in 2009, when they spent a record-shattering $175 million to defeat climate change regulation, according to the Center for Responsive Politics' OpenSecrets website.

The industry pulled back to a mere $145 million in 2010. But the BP disaster once again put the prospect of regulation on the table -- which, along with a push to revoke billions of dollars in federal subsidies to oil companies, has provoked a new flurry of lobbying in Washington.

A Facing South/Institute for Southern Studies analysis finds that energy companies active in the Gulf are still spending big money to curry influence in Washington. In the first quarter of 2011, the top 15 oil companies with leases in the Gulf of Mexico lobbying in Washington spent $22.5 million to pressure federal lawmakers.

If they continue at this pace, these 15 companies -- who together hold 3,531 oil leases in the Gulf of Mexico -- would end up spending nearly $90 million in 2011, eclipsing their 2010 total of $82.5 million.



That doesn't include the money linked to Gulf oil companies that has been spent directly to help Congressional candidates. Altogether, more than $30.5 million in money connected to oil and gas interests flowed to candidates, parties and outside election groups in 2010 -- 77 percent to Republicans -- with companies active in the Gulf among the leaders, like ExxonMobil ($1.4 million), Chevron ($940,000) and Marathon ($680,000).

It also doesn't include lobbyists hired by trade groups for Gulf oil companies, like the American Petroleum Institute, National Petrochemical and Refiners Association and Independent Petroleum Association of America. Those three groups alone spent $11.3 million on lobbying in 2010, and spent $1.7 million in the first quarter of 2011.

Earlier this year, the American Petroleum Institute announced it was starting to make campaign contributions for the 2011-2012 cycle in response to the debate over repealing tax breaks to oil companies.

It seems unlikely that Gulf oil interests will keep up this level of spending, especially with Republican leadership in the U.S. House pledging to block any new regulations.

But oil companies have plenty of money to spend, and they're not leaving anything to chance.

Research assistance for this story was provided by Purity Kimaiyo.