Many in the oil & gas industry were pleased that President Obama recognized the important role dramatic hydrocarbon production increases are playing in the nation’s energy picture, but some observers feel the president took undue credit for the phenomenon during his State of the Union address last week.

Much of the incremental oil & gas output is coming from operations sited on private or state-owned land where permitting is less onerous than federal lands, and most of the groundwork that’s led to the unconventional hydrocarbon boom was laid during previous presidential terms.

“President Obama provided a textbook example of Beltway narcissism in his State of the Union speech last week, when he claimed credit for the boom in domestic oil and natural gas production over the last few years…”This is a classic example of someone jumping in front of a parade going down the street and saying, ‘follow me!’…”The domestic energy boom owes its success precisely to the extent that dramatic private-sector innovations happened quietly and mostly out of view from Washington.” – Steven F. Hayward, as published in Forbes