WASHINGTON (AP) — ConocoPhillips spent $5.57 million in the third quarter to lobby the federal government on hydraulic fracturing and other issues, according to a disclosure report.
That's up from the $4.87 million that Conoco spent in the year-ago period, and also more than the $4.34 million spent in the second quarter of 2010. Conoco also lobbied the federal government on legislation involving air and water quality, U.S. foreign policy toward Libya, oil pipelines, Canadian oil sands developments, tax reform, and European fuel quality rules, according to the report filed on Oct. 20.
ConocoPhillips and many other energy companies have been tapping large deposits of shale gas and oil in the United States using a technique called hydraulic fracturing, or fracking. Environmentalists say the method could contaminate groundwater supplies, but the industry insists that fracking is safe.
In the July-to-September period, the Houston oil and natural gas company lobbied Congress, the U.S. Trade Representative, the Environmental Protection Agency, the National Economic Council, and the departments of the Interior, Treasury, Energy and State, according to the report filed with the House clerk's office.
