Posted on 02/25/2011 3:36:46 AM PST by Libloather
House GOP to push administration on offshore drilling amid unrest in Libya
By Andrew Restuccia - 02/23/11 12:03 PM ET
Key House Republicans plan to argue next month that the Obama administration should act swiftly to issue offshore oil-and-gas drilling permits amid the political unrest in Libya and other countries.
The House Natural Resources Committee said Wednesday it is holding two hearings in March on what Republicans have termed the administration’s “de facto moratorium” on deepwater oil-and-gas drilling in the Gulf of Mexico.
The administration has issued no deepwater permits since the last year's BP spill, and has slowed the pace for shallow-water projects. The Interior Department, which is in charge of issuing permits, has said it will begin issuing deepwater permits once drillers are able to prove they're complying with a series of new safety regulations.
But Republicans and some drill-state Democrats have slammed the administration for not yet issuing deepwater permits, and for slowing the pace of shallow-water permitting. Sen. David Vitter (R-La.) has even put a hold on a key Interior Department nominee over his drilling concerns.
The political unrest in North Africa and the Middle East has only heightened Republicans’ concerns. While Egypt is not a major oil producer, Libya, which is now facing major political strife, is the world’s 17th largest oil producer.
Oil prices have steadily increased amid the uprising in Libya. While the International Energy Agency and the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries said Tuesday they could make up for supply losses from Libya, analysts have raised concerns that the unrest could spread to other major oil producers, leading to significant supply shortages.
Rep. Doc Hastings (R-Wash.), chairman of the Natural Resources Committee, has raised concerns about the effects of the unrest in Libya on gas prices. In a statement Tuesday, Hastings’s office said the protests there could lead to “record prices at the pump.”
Spencer Pederson, a Hastings spokesman, said Libya will be a major topic of discussion at the hearings.
“I think that whenever Chairman Hastings talks about increased domestic oil production in general, he talks about it in the framework of national security, and that’s highlighted by what’s happening in North Africa,” Pederson said. “I think that will be a strong backdrop to the conversation.”
On March 16, the full committee will host a hearing on the administration’s offshore drilling policies. The hearing will include testimony “from impacted States, communities, and local businesses.”
On March 30, the committee will hear testimony from Michael Bromwich, who heads the Interior Department’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement. The committee is also planning a field hearing in Louisiana in April.
But analysts say that increasing domestic oil-and-gas production in the United States will have little impact on the cost of gas, which is determined by a number of complex factors. For example, the Energy Information Administration said in a 2009 that opening up large swaths of the Outer Continental Shelf to drilling would only affect gas prices by 3 cents.
Yep, as long as they don't get one red cent of taxpayer money.
That horse is out of the barn and the only way we can put it back in the barn is a new administration.
If it stood on its own, I'm all for it. If people choose to personally pay extra for renewable sources, like they can in Texas, I'm all for it (just not for me). But if I have to subsidize it to help a democrat make the claim and get reelected, get a rope.
I’ve read too much about wind power and it’s complete unreliability as an energy source to pay any attention to the loons pushing it.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.