A House Resources Committee bill was introduced Tuesday that would offer producers additional incentives to squeeze out every last drop of oil and natural gas from the maturer regions of the Gulf of Mexico. It would keep intact the moratoria that currently exists for the other Outer Continental Shelf regions in the United States, but it would open up the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) to drilling.

The legislation, known as the “Energy Security Act,” makes clear that it does not attempt to open any national park, monument or wilderness area to drilling or mining, nor does it attempt to lift the existing moratoria on offshore leasing along the Atlantic and Pacific coasts, and in the eastern Gulf of Mexico and North Aleutian Basin.

But it does propose to re-establish royalty-relief incentives to further spur development of deepwater leases in the central and western Gulf, and calls for the National Academy of Sciences to analyze the oil and gas resources in the Gulf and recommend incentives to “optimize” oil and gas supplies from the moratoria-free areas of the Gulf. The bill also seeks expedited reviews for onshore leasing, more flexible royalty-in-kind programs, and royalty relief for stripper oil and gas wells.

Significantly, the legislation (HR 2436) also would establish an oil and gas leasing program under the Mineral Leasing Act to carry out drilling in the coastal plain region of ANWR. It would impose special regulations, lease terms, standards, conditions and restrictions to “ensure there will be no significant adverse effect from oil exploration and development on the coastal plain.”

There is mounting support in the Republican-led House to open up ANWR to future exploration and production activity, but it’s considered a dead issue in the Democratic-controlled Senate.

The bill, which is sponsored by Committee Chairman Jim Hansen (R-UT), Vice Chairman Don Young (R-AK) and Rep. W.J. “Billy” Tauzin (R-LA), implements a number of the proposals in President Bush’s national energy strategy. The first committee hearing on the measure is scheduled for today at 10 a.m., during which Interior Secretary Gale Norton will testify.

The bill also addresses energy transportation issues. It calls for a study of existing rights-of-way across federal lands to determine the capability to support new pipelines or other transmission facilities. In addition, it would create a task force to develop an interagency agreement to expedite the environmental review and permitting of interstate natural gas pipeline projects.

The legislation contains several provisions aimed at increasing the use of renewable energy in the production of electricity. Moreover, it directs the Interior secretary to study and report on increasing electric power production capacity of existing hydropower facilities under her jurisdiction.

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