The American Gas Association (AGA) sent a letter to U.S. senators Tuesday urging opposition to an expected amendment to the energy bill from Senator Bob Graham (D-FL) that would to remove Sec. 105. The section calls for a Comprehensive Inventory of Outer Continental Self (OCS) Oil and Natural Gas Resources.

A Graham press aide said the senator opposes the inventory and would like to see the section removed because Florida opposes natural gas and oil exploration and production off of its coasts. She said Graham intends to introduce his amendment in the near future.

“The Section 105 will not affect existing moratoria on oil and gas activity in the OCS, nor will it diminish states’ rights,” AGA said in its letter. “Its sole purpose is to inform the American public about how much potential oil and natural gas within these areas the United States holds.

“These are public assets and the public should have a more accurate accounting of them, especially since many of the existing OCS resource projections are out of date and do not reflect current technological capabilities. AGA believes that this study will reveal that significant natural gas resources are contained in our own Outer Continental Shelf.”

AGA, which represents 191 gas utility companies serving 53 million homes and businesses, also urged the senators to oppose any other amendments that would remove natural gas supply provisions from the Energy Policy Act.

“Our nation continues to rely heavily on domestically produced, clean-burning natural gas, and increased access to new supplies is necessary to meet current and future demand,” the association said.

“Over the past two decades, the natural gas industry has worked hard on ‘demand side’ efficiency, and individual household use has dropped by 22%, while commercial use has declined by 18%. However, the formula for competitively priced gas to meet our country’s energy and economic needs is this: the greater the supply the lower the price.”

The AGA noted the recent concerns of Federal Reserve Board Chairman Alan Greenspan, who called the current natural gas supply crunch “a very serious problem.”

“Unfortunately, the only sure-fire, short-term solution to easing the economic burden of today’s wholesale gas prices is greater confidence in future energy supplies by the energy markets.

“Having a better understanding of the inventory of oil and natural gas in our OCS will help us toward that critical goal.”

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