The leading US oil and gas industry group has highlighted deregulation, increased access for offshore drilling and more support for pipeline construction as priorities for Donald Trump’s administration and the new Republican-dominated Congress. In a speech in Washington on Wednesday, Jack Gerard, president of the American Petroleum Institute, said the US had a “once in a generation opportunity” to create more middle-class jobs, reduce income inequality and strengthen national security by increasing oil and gas production. “We must break from the recent past [and] re-examine the regulatory onslaught of the last few years that has proposed or imposed some 145 regulations and other executive actions on our industry, and instead work to implement smart energy regulations,” Mr Gerard said.The API is the most influential of the US oil industry organisations, with about 625 members including large US companies such as ExxonMobiland Chevron, and the American divisions of international groups including BP, Royal Dutch Shell and Saudi Aramco.