Cathy Landry | 202-682-8122 | landryc@api.org
WASHINGTON, June 9, 2009 - American Petroleum Institute President Jack Gerard issued the following statement on 13 to 10 Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee vote in favor of adopting the opening the Eastern Gulf of Mexico for additional oil and natural gas leasing.
“By allowing greater access to oil and natural gas leasing in promising areas of the Eastern Gulf of Mexico, Senator Dorgan’s amendment stands to help the American people by creating new jobs, adding new energy resources and providing new revenues to federal, state and local governments.
The Dorgan provision provides access to the Destin Dome area, a proven natural gas field, which, because it is located near existing pipelines and plants, could allow supplies to be brought to market in relatively short order.
Destin Dome by itself contains at least 2 trillion cubic feet (Tcf) of natural gas - enough to heat 2 million homes for 15 years - while the potential resources in the entire Eastern Gulf of Mexico are estimated at 3.7 billion barrels of oil and 21.5 Tcf of natural gas.
This amendment represents an important common-sense approach to energy policy, especially with demand for natural gas expected to grow as the nation seeks to meet our growing energy needs while addressing the global climate challenge.
Still, continued discussion is necessary to ensure that coastal states should be given a portion of the revenues associated with the development of oil and gas off their shores because that production will benefit all Americans in terms of revenues, additional jobs and greater domestic energy supply.”
Updated: June 9, 2009