[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 54 (Thursday, April 28, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E827]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




COSTS REDUCED IN HALL ULTRA-DEEP AND UNCONVENTIONAL ONSHORE NATURAL GAS 
                                PROGRAM

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. RALPH M. HALL

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, April 28, 2005

  Mr. HALL. Mr. Speaker, I know you share my concern about the need to 
increase domestic natural gas supply--the cleanest of the fossil fuels. 
One sure way to do that is by developing the technologies that are 
necessary to produce our 1400 trillion cubic feet of technically 
recoverable natural gas.
  As the original sponsor, I want to commend Chairman Barton, Chairman 
Dreier and Chairman Boehlert for their hard work to develop my ultra-
deepwater and unconventional natural gas research and development 
provision that was passed by the House last week. It was a challenge to 
reconcile the different versions of the provisions that were reported 
from the Energy and Commerce Committee and the Science Committee. This 
natural gas research and development provision will increase domestic 
natural gas supply and lower the cost of energy to consumers.
  The Science Committee, on which I am proud to serve, passed its 
provisions for the comprehensive energy bill in early February. Those 
provisions included a program in ultra-deepwater and unconventional 
onshore natural gas supply R&D that tracked the language in the 
conference agreement on H.R. 6 in the previous Congress. The provisions 
funded this program through $1.5 billion in mandatory spending over 10 
years. In the last Congress much good work was done to improve this 
legislation. That good work was reflected in the legislation reported 
from the Science Committee and I appreciate the hard work.
  Several weeks later, the Energy and Commerce Committee, on which I am 
also pleased to serve, reported its version of the energy legislation 
which included a similar provision for the ultra-deepwater and 
unconventional onshore natural gas research and development program 
that complied with the $500 million ten year mandatory spending limit 
contained in the House Budget Resolution. However, this provision was 
also problematic because the score in the first year was $100 million.
  The House Rules Committee was responsible for reconciling the 
differences between various energy provisions reported by several House 
Committees prior to consideration on the floor of the House of 
Representatives, as well as to ensure that the final version of 
comprehensive energy legislation complied with the House Budget 
Resolution. The ultra-deepwater and unconventional onshore research and 
development provisions that were sent to the floor and passed by the 
House are a skillful combination of the work of the Science and the 
Energy and Commerce Committees. The combined provisions provide the 
opportunity for implementation of a robust program of research and 
development, which the DOE Energy Information Administration says would 
both increase supply and pay for itself in the form of increased 
royalties, to help develop new technologies to find and produce more of 
our domestic gas.

  It is my understanding that the gas supply R&D provision that was 
passed by the House was scored by the Congressional Budget Office at 
$500 million over 10 years or $1 billion less than the provision passed 
by the Science Committee. I believe that the return to America 
consumers--according to EIA, a rapid technology scenario could save up 
to $7 billion in the year 2025 alone--is worth a $50 million per year 
investment over 10 years. This provision would establish a rapid 
technology scenario for natural gas production in this country. It is 
responsive to both budget constraints and is good public policy.
  I also commend the Chairman and Chairman Pombo and Chairman Nussle 
for their hard work to ensure that mandatory funding was made available 
for these vital natural gas supply research and development provisions 
and other measures in the bill. There are three other provisions in the 
energy bill that were also granted $500 million in mandatory spending 
by the Budget Resolution. The energy savings performance contracts will 
improve the energy efficiency of federal buildings and help mitigate 
the environmental consequences of power generation. The domestic 
offshore energy reinvestment program will provide funds to Coastal 
Energy States from federal oil and gas royalties. The electric 
reliability standards enforcement measure will improve the reliability 
of the Nation's electricity transmission system. Each of these 
provisions addresses specific problems associated with energy 
production and consumption. And each, for different reasons, need to be 
funded outside of the appropriation process. I thank the Chairman for 
his time.

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