II 110th CONGRESS 1st Session S. 115 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES January 4, 2007 Mr. Obama introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance A BILL To suspend royalty relief, to repeal certain provisions of the Energy Policy Act of 2005, and to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to repeal certain tax incentives for the oil and gas industry.

1.

Short title; table of contents

(a)

Short title

This Act may be cited as the Oil Subsidy Elimination for New Strategies on Energy Act or the Oil SENSE Act. (b)

Table of contents

The table of contents for this Act is as follows: Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. Sec. 2. Findings. TITLE I—Termination of certain provisions of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 Sec. 101. Termination of certain provisions of the Energy Policy Act of 2005. TITLE II—Suspension of Royalty Relief Sec. 201. Suspension of royalty relief. Sec. 202. Renegotiation of existing leases. TITLE III—Repeal of certain energy tax incentives Sec. 301. Repeal of tax subsidies enacted by the Energy Policy Act of 2005 for oil and gas.

2.

Findings

Congress finds that— (1)record highs in oil and natural gas prices have resulted in record profits for oil and natural gas producers and refiners; (2)oil prices are projected to remain high for the foreseeable future; (3)the Department of the Interior estimates that as much as $66,000,000,000 worth of oil and natural gas taken from the deep waters of the Gulf of Mexico over the next 5 years will be exempt from Government royalty payments, which could amount to the Government losing an estimated $7,000,000,000 to $9,500,000,000 based on anticipated production and current price projections for oil and gas, according to an analysis in the 5-year budget plan of the Department of the Interior; (4)the chief executive officers of the top 5 oil companies stated at a November 9, 2005, joint hearing of the Committee on Energy and Natural Resource of the Senate and the Committee on Environment and Public Works of the Senate that their companies did not need the Federal tax incentives provided in the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 15801 et seq.); (5)the Statement of Administration Policy of June 14, 2005, on the energy bill that would become the Energy Policy Act of 2005 states, “The President believes that additional taxpayer subsidies for oil-and-gas exploration are unwarranted in today’s price environment, and urges the Senate to eliminate the Federal oil-and-gas subsidies and other exploration incentives contained in the bill.”; and (6)incentives for the energy industry should be focused on the development of renewable energy resources in the United States that will also promote, jobs, investment, innovation, and economic development in rural, agriculture-dependent areas.