The CEO of the American Petroleum Institute has said that, after decades of energy scarcity, the USA has “become a global leader in energy production”.

Speaking at a press conference in Washington to launch the API’s annual State of American Energy report, Jack Gerard said: “The country must forge an energy policy that reflects this new reality.”

Mr Gerard told the press that the USA is now the number-one producer of natural gas as well as the world’s leading oil refiner, and it will become the leading producer of crude oil this year. As domestic energy production has grown, it has created 600,000 jobs in two years, he said.

“In 2014, Goldman Sachs found, the economic impact of a 60% fall in the price of a gallon of ‘gas’ was equivalent to a one-time tax cut of $100-125 billion.”

Mr Gerard said that further investment in energy infrastructure will result in “even greater economic gains.”

He cited a study by the IHS business-advisory group that “essential infrastructure improvements in just the oil and natural gas area could — over the next decade — encourage as much as $1.15 trillion in new private capital investment, support 1.15 million new jobs and add $120 billion on average per year to the USA’s GDP.”

Mr Gerard went on to say that fossil fuels will continue to provide “most of the world’s energy needs for the foreseeable future. The US Energy Information Administration estimates that oil, natural gas and coal will account for 80% of the country’s energy consumption 25 years from now.”

He said the report also forecast that renewable-energy sources will only account for 12% of the country’s energy supply, while nuclear will contribute 8% of the total.