The administration that strangles offshore production

Mark Green:

Take a look at the map below, one we’ve used before to show the vastness of America’s offshore oil and natural gas reserves – the overwhelming majority of which (in red) that’s off-limits for development.

That should be changed – and could be changed with the right policies in Washington. Legislation introduced today in Congress to allow drilling off Virginia’s coast is a step in that right direction. The bill sponsored by U.S. Rep. Scott Rigell of Virginia would require the Interior Department to sell at least one offshore lease for oil and natural gas development there, mandating that a portion of any federal revenue be shared with the commonwealth.

Access to areas offshore and onshore is vital to the kind of expanded domestic oil and natural gas production needed to make the United States more energy self-sufficient, which would strengthen our energy security. It’s unfortunate that such development is blocked for so much of our offshore reserves – again, look at all that red above – and especially off the coasts of states like Virginia that want drilling. Sales of Virginia leases were expected to begin in 2011 but that was put on hold until at least 2017 by the administration. Rigell’s legislation aims to change that policy. Erik Milito, API director of upstream and industry operations:

“Eighty-seven percent of federally-controlled offshore areas remain off-limits to energy production. Unlocking this oil and natural gas could provide a major boost to domestic energy production, state and local economies, and government revenue. The legislation proposed by Congressman Rigell is an excellent first step. Tapping resources off the coast of Virginia and other Atlantic states will be a key part of the all-of-the-above energy plan President Obama has promised. Before the first well can be drilled, the federal government must schedule lease sales and permit modern seismic surveys, which are essential for locating undersea energy resources.”

Policies that continue to block access to American oil and natural gas reserves means lost opportunities for jobs, capital investments and broader economic growth – in other words, the kinds of industrial/business activity President Obama has talked about as vital to boosting the national economy.

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This energy policy is one run by someone with a carbon phobia who does not want to recover oil and gas from offshore wells if he can help it.  It is not a smart way to handle energy production.  If they would get out of the way we would have more jobs and less imports.  Instead, the Democrats are outsourcing energy jobs to countries that do not have our interest at heart.  They have been pushing sinkhole investments in inefficient alternative energy that is wasting billions of dollars.