Gas and Oil Lobbying Strength

BP Enjoys Lobbying Strength, Close Ties to Lawmakers as Federal Investigation Looms

During the 2008 election cycle, individuals and political action committees associated with BP -- a Center for Responsive Politics' "heavy hitter" -- contributed half a million dollars to federal candidates. About 40 percent of these donations went to Democrats. The top recipient of BP-related donations during the 2008 cycle was President Barack Obama himself, who collected $71,000.

BP regularly lobbies on Capitol Hill, as well. In 2009, the company spent a massive $16 million to influence legislation. During the first quarter of 2010, it spent $3.53 million on federal lobbying efforts, ranking it second (behind ConocoPhillips) among all oil and gas industry interests.


Top Contributors, 2009-2010

Rank Organization Amount Dems Repubs Source

1 Koch Industries $643,250 16% 84%
2 Exxon Mobil $510,864 14% 86%
3 Chevron Corp $440,629 19% 81%
4 Valero Energy $402,000 18% 82%
5 Marathon Oil $353,690 23% 76%
6 Occidental Petroleum $303,500 21% 79%
7 Williams Companies $260,500 28% 72%
8 Chesapeake Energy $228,480 57% 43%
9 American Gas Assn $225,750 43% 57%
10 Anadarko Petroleum $221,150 22% 78%
11 Devon Energy $220,870 12% 87%
12 ConocoPhillips $199,697 29% 71%
13 Plains Exploration & Production $154,700 23% 76%
14 Mewbourne Oil Co $150,500 6% 94%
15 Bass Brothers Enterprises $145,215 40% 60%
16 Society of Indep Gasoline Marketers $133,500 63% 37%
17 Tesoro Petroleum $130,133 53% 47%
18 Pilot Corp $125,000 6% 94%
19 AGL Resources $124,500 58% 41%
20 Enterprise Products Partners $123,250 12% 88%



Top 20 Recipients

Rank Candidate Office Amount
1 Lincoln, Blanche (D-AR) Senate $286,400
2 Vitter, David (R-LA) Senate $242,600
3 Murkowski, Lisa (R-AK) Senate $209,826
4 White, Bill (D-TX) $184,303
5 Jones, Elizabeth Ames (R-TX) $168,750
6 Boren, Dan (D-OK) House $139,700
7 Bennett, Robert F (R-UT) Senate $138,400
8 Blunt, Roy (R-MO) House $133,100
9 Cornyn, John (R-TX) Senate $130,525
10 Specter, Arlen (D-PA) Senate $130,400
11 Portman, Rob (R-OH) $125,108
12 Edwards, Chet (D-TX) House $123,630
13 Conaway, Mike (R-TX) House $116,950
14 Pearce, Steve (R-NM) $108,900
15 Coburn, Tom (R-OK) Senate $105,100
16 Hoeven, John (R-ND) $101,350
17 Barton, Joe (R-TX) House $100,470
18 Dorgan, Byron L (D-ND) Senate $92,950
19 Thune, John (R-SD) Senate $91,140
20 Cantor, Eric (R-VA) House $87,000

Total for Oil & Gas: $38,398,838
Total Number of Clients Reported: 150
Total Number of Lobbyists Reported: 611

ConocoPhillips $6,408,978
BP $3,530,000
Exxon Mobil $3,390,000
Chevron Corp $3,090,000
Royal Dutch Shell $2,320,000
Koch Industries $1,950,000
Marathon Oil $1,380,000
Williams Companies $1,340,000
Anadarko Petroleum $1,320,000
American Petroleum Institute $1,260,000