Petroleum Alliance of Oklahoma President Brook A. Simmons issued the following statement in response to the addition of Barclays PLC to the State Treasurer’s Restricted Financial Companies List by State Treasurer Todd Russ:

“This year, Barclays announced it would no longer provide project or direct financing for upstream oil and gas expansion and infrastructure projects and has a very limited appetite for financing companies focused on oil and natural gas exploration and production. As Oklahoma’s economy and revenue structure remain steadfastly built upon an oil and gas foundation, Barclays seems to have self-selected not to do business with the State of Oklahoma.

“Crude oil and natural gas are critical to life. Without hydrocarbons, the world would go dark and society would collapse – no modern medical care nor medicines, no reliable heating nor cooling, no transportation beyond that which existed in the mid-1800s. Meanwhile, the United States leads the world in greenhouse gas emissions reductions, primarily as a result of fuel switching to clean-burning natural gas for power generation. Why some financial institutions choose policies designed to create energy poverty is mystifying.”

ABOUT THE PETROLEUM ALLIANCE – The Petroleum Alliance of Oklahoma is the only trade association in Oklahoma that represents every segment of the oil and natural gas industry, representing more than 1,400 individual and member companies engaged in the upstream, midstream and downstream sectors of the state’s defining industry.