Opec, the oil producers’ cartel, will reap $1,000 billion in export revenues this year for the first time if crude prices remain above $100 a barrel, according to the International Energy Agency.
Republicans and oil state Democrats have argued for expanded offshore oil and gas drilling in light of rising prices and foreign oil dependence.
House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Doc Hastings, R-Wash., introduced legislation that expands drilling.
Additionally, undeveloped oil and gas leases in the Gulf of Mexico may hold 11.6 billion barrels of crude, enough to meet U.S. demand for almost two years.
“This administration seeks to increase politics rather than increase energy production,” Erik Milito, upstream director at American Petroleum Institute, said in an e-mail today. “This is an effort to distract the American people from rising gas prices, and the fact that the administration has been delaying, deferring or denying access to our oil and natural gas resources here at home.
Meanwhile, the GOP wants to drill everywhere, even just off Virginia's coast. One bill would require the Department of the Interior to hold lease sales for Virginia within one year of the bill becoming law. Essentially, it would allow energy companies to begin probing a 2.9-million acre tract — slightly larger than Delaware — located roughly 50 miles off the coast.
"The majority of Americans support offshore energy production, and these bills will allow it to move forward in a safe, responsible and efficient manner," Hastings said. "With thousands un- employed in the Gulf region and gasoline prices nearing $4 per gallon, swift action must be taken."
Sources: FT, LA Times, Discovery News, Chron Business News
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