Republicans

Republicans scored a key procedural victory Wednesday when the Senate overwhelmingly voted to move ahead with debate on legislation to open up millions of acres in the eastern Gulf of Mexico to oil and natural gas leasing.

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN) signaled that he will schedule debate this month on a bill based on a deal negotiated by Republicans Wednesday that would open up eight million acres in the eastern Gulf of Mexico to oil and natural gas leasing and would allow sharing of federal royalties from offshore production with four Gulf coastal states.

The seemingly solid agreement among a mix of liberal/moderate Democrats and conservative/moderate Republicans on the newly configured five-member appointed California Public Utilities Commission last Thursday was jarred loose and split into a majority of market-based-solution advocates and a minority of command-and-control supporters over the creation of a telecommunications “Consumer Bill of Rights.” The measure was six years in the making and has gone through several iterations in the past 18 months.

House Republicans from Pennsylvania on Wednesday criticized the Interior Department’s proposed fall 2007 time table for leasing additional acreage in the natural gas-prone offshore area known as Lease 181 in the eastern Gulf of Mexico.

Rep. Joe Barton (R-TX), chairman of the powerful House Energy and Commerce Committee, and other House Republicans on Wednesday expressed frustration with many of the natural gas price complaints of Democrats whose states consume large amounts of gas, but have done little to contribute to supply. The states — notably Florida, California and the New England region — oppose pipeline and liquefied natural gas (LNG) projects within their boundaries and/or object to drilling off their coastlines, while fueling their electric generation plants mostly with natural gas.

Two top Texas congressmen, both Republicans, have expressed their “deep concern” about the $18.5 billion bid for Unocal Corp. by the China National Offshore Oil Corp. (CNOOC) in a letter to President Bush.

Republicans on the Senate Budget Committee blocked an effort by Democrats to keep the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge closed to oil and natural gas exploration and development during mark-up Thursday of the panel’s fiscal 2006 budget resolution..

As an example of just how far the Enron effect is carrying, one of the three Republicans opposing incumbent California Gov. Gray Davis in this year’s elections drew criticism Tuesday because a small Houston-based energy firm in which he invested has ties to one of Enron’s off-balance-sheet partnerships.

Key Republicans in the Senate, led by Sen. Frank Murkowski (R-AK), reportedly are expanding their options for energy legislation.