The U.S. Internal Revenue Code section 613A(d) defines an independent producer as a producer who does not have more than $5 million in retail sales of oil and gas in a year or who does not refine more than an average of 75,000 barrels per day of crude oil during a given year. There are about 9,000 independent oil and natural gas producers in the United States. These companies operate in 33 states and the offshore and employ an average of just 12 people.
Independent producers develop 91 percent of the wells in the United States – producing 83 percent of America’s oil and 90 percent of America’s natural gas. Independents can be small family companies or publicly traded companies. These companies efforts account for 3 percent of the United States’ Gross Domestic Product and they reinvest billions of dollars back into the American economy to discover and to produce more energy in the most cost-efficient ways. As the infographics below illustrate, IPAA members play a critical role in the nation’s overall economic vitality and energy security.
