Legislation

House Resources Committee Chairman Richard W. Pombo (R-CA) reintroduced legislation (H.R. 5429) this week that would open 2,000 acres in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) to oil and gas drilling. “There is no logical reason to oppose safe energy exploration and production on ANWR’s northern coastal plain,” Pombo said, adding that President Jimmy Carter created the 20 million-acre area in 1980, setting aside 1.5 million acres on the northern coastal plain for the specific purpose of future energy exploration and development. The 2,000 acres requested to be opened to drilling in ANWR’s 1002 area would be a small fraction of that total, yet it could provide 10.4 billion bbl of recoverable oil, which is more than double the proven reserves in the state of Texas, Pombo said. He predicted that peak oil production from the area being set aside could total 1.5 million bbl/d, which is nearly equal to what the U.S. imports from Saudi Arabia every day.

Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) and Rep. Maurice Hinchey (D-NY) have introduced legislation that would repeal at least $28 billion in tax breaks over a 10-year period for oil and natural gas companies, as well as end royalty relief for offshore production.

With 156 co-sponsors signed on to his legislation, Rep. John Peterson (R-PA) believes “there’s a real opportunity” this year for Congress to make headway to expand natural gas drilling on the federal Outer Continental Shelf (OCS), a spokesman said.

Pending Senate legislation reauthorizing the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) comes up short because it fails to give the agency the authority to oversee over-the-counter (OTC) natural gas trades, including forward contracts, swaps and options, an industrial energy consumers group told Senate leaders who crafted the bill.

President Bush signed legislation earlier this week that makes an additional $1 billion in energy assistance available to low-income energy consumers in fiscal year 2006.

The Senate on Thursday approved a $2.8 trillion budget resolution that sets the stage for legislation authorizing drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR), but the prospects for the inclusion of ANWR in the House budget appear bleak.

Key Senate Democrats have introduced legislation that seeks to halt billions of dollars of royalty incentives for crude oil and natural gas development on federal lands.

The House Agriculture Committee Wednesday voted out legislation that reauthorizes the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and, among other things, augments the agency’s oversight of the natural gas market.

The energy policy act signed into law by President Bush in August “was a start,” but the nation needs energy legislation that goes far beyond that to address the run-up in prices and diminishing supplies, said the head of the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) Tuesday.