Colorado Capitol Report

The Colorado Chamber Hosts Panel Discussion: “Lifting the Ban on Oil Exports”

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CACI Hosts Panel Discussion: “Lifting the Ban on Oil Exports”

Left to right: Chad Vorthmann, Executive Vice President, Colorado Farm Bureau; Chuck Berry, CACI President; Peter Moore, President & CEO, Vital For Colorado; Tom Clark, Executive Vice President, Denver Metro Chamber, & CEO, Metro Denver Economic Development Corporation; Chris Hansen, Senior Advisor, Janys Analytics; Dave Anderson, Vice President, Cutters Wireline Services; and Manuel Agripino, President and CEO, Northern Colorado Latino Chamber of Commerce.

Left to right: Chad Vorthmann, Executive Vice President, Colorado Farm Bureau; Chuck Berry, CACI President; Peter Moore, President & CEO, Vital For Colorado; Tom Clark, Executive Vice President, Denver Metro Chamber, & CEO, Metro Denver Economic
Development Corporation; Chris Hansen, Senior Advisor, Janys Analytics; Dave Anderson, Vice President, Cutters Wireline Services; and Manuel Agripino, President and CEO, Northern Colorado Latino Chamber of Commerce.

  • Consensus among bipartisan panel: ban has ‘outlived its usefulness’ and is now hurting both U.S. and Colorado economies.

On Wednesday, CACI hosted a seven-member panel of business leaders to talk about the potential benefits of removing the 1970’s ban on exporting U.S. crude oil.  The panel included familiar CACI faces:  Dave Anderson, Vice President of Cutters Wireline Services, who provided an oil-and-gas service industry perspective as well as CACI President Chuck Berry who focused on the broader economy and national-security perspective.

Topics touched on by the panel, included: Why the time is right to remove the ban, why everyday consumers would benefit, why this change would actually lower gas prices at the pump, how CACI members can get involved to share their support with Colorado’s Congressional delegation and why removing the ban could improve U.S. energy security at home as well as providing stability to the global crude market and more reliable energy to U.S. allies overseas.

Takeaway messages:

  • The U.S. is the only crude developer that does not export their product;
  • Lifting the ban would lower gas prices for U.S. consumers;
  • The U.S. is the cleanest and safest oil producer in the world;
  • Severance royalty payments and additional taxes from increased production would help address infrastructure needs in Colorado; and
  • Lifting the ban would add to Colorado’s economic recovery.

Average oil-worker wages range annually from $85,000 to $120,000, and the industry employs a wide spectrum of workers with varying education levels.

For news media coverage of the panel, read:

“In Denver, bipartisan agreement that ban has ‘outlived its usefulness,” by Jennifer Yachnin, Energy and Environment News, August 20th.

Colorado Ranks 5th in U.S. as “Friendliest” State to Small Businesses

The fourth annual “Small Business Friendliness Survey” has ranked Colorado fifth in the nation as friendly to small businesses, according to an article in Accounting Today.

The survey, by Thumbtack, of 17,000 small business owners found that state tax burdens rank low in how entrepreneurs assess a state’s “friendliness.”

State labor laws and rules were 88 percent more important in determining a state’s business friendliness than tax rates.

States that emphasize regulatory compliance and business training scored highest in the survey.

The three most important factors in how small business owners ranked states were:

  • Training experience,
  • Labor regualtions, and
  • Tax regulations.

For the complete article, read:

“Survey Ranks Friendliest States,Cities, for Small Biz,” by Danielle Lee, Accounting Today, August 21st.