Compromise

The Senate and House were at a standstill at the end of the week in their efforts to reach a compromise on legislation to open up more of the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) to oil and natural gas leasing, according to Capitol Hill aides.

The House Resources Committee on Monday introduced a compromise bill that would open up heretofore closed portions of the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) to oil and gas drilling and would give states a greater share of the royalty pie from offshore production.

Sen. Pete Domenici (R-NM), chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, took to the Senate floor Wednesday to offer a compromise between competing Democratic and Republican energy proposals. He said he would support the Democrats’ proposal for a gasoline tax holiday if they would back Republicans’ efforts to spur more energy production.

A compromise under negotiation on offshore drilling between House Resources Committee Chairman Richard W. Pombo, R-CA, and Florida politicians could result in the leasing and drilling in about 70% of the eastern Gulf of Mexico area off the Florida coast that is expected to contain huge reserves.

Legislation encompassing a sweeping reform of leasing and drilling rules in New York State that was signed by the governor last week is “a good compromise for all the parties involved,” according to Brad Gill, executive director of the Independent Oil and Gas Assoc. of New York (IOGA). “This is fair to operators and landowners.

Seeking to reach a compromise between what it is seeking and what the New Mexico Public Regulation Commission rejected Nov. 3, PNM Resources’ utility subsidiary, PNM, has submitted a revised plan to the commission for increasing delivery rates for the company’s 441,000 natural gas customers in the state.

The power is still off on Texas’ deregulation pilot, which was scheduled to finally begin today after its June 1 ramp-up was shut down in late May (see Daily GPI, May 23). Pilot customers now won’t have service from their new retail electric providers until at least July 20, and maybe even later, according to the Texas Public Utility Commission.

Nicor Gas has filed a plan with the Illinois Commerce Commissionthat would allow customers to continue to participate in thecompany’s Customer Select program until the ICC completes itsinvestigation of the program.