American Petroleum Institute / by Robert J. Shapiro and Nam D. Pham
http://bit.ly/vcTNTB
[Abstract] This report shows that the ownership of the U.S. oil and natural gas industry is broadly distributed, with only very small portions of its shares held by corporate management. Across all U.S.-based oil and natural gas companies, less than 3 percent of outstanding shares are held by the officers and board members of those companies. By contrast, nearly 50 percent of those shares are held by public and private pension plans, including 401(k)s and IRAs. In addition, an additional 20 percent of those shares are owned by individual investors who manage their own holdings (and are not corporate management). The remaining 27 percent of shares are held by financial institutions and asset management companies.
[From a Greenwire article by Phil Taylor, sub. req'd] The report comes as major oil and gas firms this week report billions of dollars in third-quarter earnings, sparking renewed calls for Congress to eliminate what some argue are unnecessary industry subsidies that increase the national deficit…
The report makes the case that raising taxes would ultimately harm soon-to-be retirees and would unfairly hinder oil and gas firms from recovering costs that most other industries already claim..
