Energy Finance

The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee voted 15 to 8 vote to approve an energy bill that would open part of the Gulf of Mexico for additional oil and natural gas leasing.

The proposed legislation would increase access to resource-rich areas currently off-limits in the eastern Gulf of Mexico. The bill also clarifies ambiguous language in Section 526 of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, which, as originally written, could have precluded federal agencies from using transportation fuels derived from Canadian oil sands.

Said American Petroleum Institute’s president, Jack Gerard, “The committee took a positive step forward by passing this bill which recognizes the importance of additional offshore oil and natural gas development and Canadian oil to our nation’s energy and economic security. The majority of Americans favor greater offshore development, and they recognize this development means more jobs, more government revenues and more domestic energy supplies.

“As the bill moves forward to the full Senate, we hope a resolution can be found to ensure that coastal states are compensated for hosting development off their shores because that production will benefit all Americans in terms of revenues, additional jobs and greater domestic energy supply.”

Barry Russell, president and chief executive of the Independent Petroleum Association of America, said, “The Senate energy panel’s action today sends a clear message to the American people and to independent energy producers across the country: more domestic energy production is critical to reducing the price at the pump and shattering our dependence on foreign, unstable sources of oil.

“We have the technology, the resources, the workforce and, in the case of the eastern Gulf, the infrastructure in place to begin producing valuable American-made oil and gas quickly and safely. With gas prices inching higher every day for almost two months now, Congress should be working to empower America’s small and independent oil and gas producers to bring more supply to market and more jobs to our economy.

“Today’s action represents a major step forward in developing a sensible, supply-oriented energy strategy. The Senate should bring this commonsense legislation to the floor, make it better where needed, and move it forward quickly.

“A week after his swearing-in, President Obama said ‘It will be the policy of my administration to reverse our dependence on foreign oil.’ The sooner America’s vast amounts of deep-ocean oil and gas reserves are opened for exploration, the sooner the president and the country’s objective will be achieved. And the better off our nation will be.”

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