[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 98 (Monday, July 24, 2006)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1493]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

[[Page E1493]]


   REGARDING HOUSE INTERIOR APPROPRIATIONS PROVISION TO FUND BLM NEW 
 MEXICO'S PREPARATION OF A NEW CO-DEVELOPMENT PLAN FOR OIL AND GAS AND 
          POTASH IN THE SECRETARIAL POTASH AREA OF NEW MEXICO

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. KAY GRANGER

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                         Monday, July 24, 2006

  Ms. GRANGER. Mr. Speaker, for too long, the number one concern of 
Americans all across our Nation has been the price and supply of 
energy. The cost of gasoline at the pump and the cost of natural gas 
delivered to homes and businesses throughout America have risen to 
levels that have threatened family pocketbooks and employment for 
businesses both big and small. Americans are looking for real action 
that addresses the real problems they are experiencing in the market 
place--the price and supply of gasoline and natural gas. The answer is 
to be found, in part, by increasing domestic supply of oil and gas. And 
we have so much of those resources still untapped--whether in the 
Alaska National Wildlife Refuge, in off-shore leases, or on a range of 
federal properties where the oil and gas resources are already owned by 
the American people.
  Many of these opportunities for increased production of oil and gas 
on federal lands are admittedly fraught with controversy and caught up 
in partisan politics. However, the House Interior appropriations bill 
that we passed on May 18, pursues a supply of 1-2 billion barrels of 
oil and gas on a federal property that is readily developable, where no 
environmental impediments exist and where drilling and pipeline 
infrastructure is so plentiful that the oil and gas can be cost-
effectively and quickly delivered into the market.
  Particularly, our House Interior Appropriations bill provides an 
additional $800,000 to the Bureau of Land Management to develop a new 
co-development policy to facilitate greater production of both the oil 
and gas and potash that lies beneath an area known as the Secretarial 
Potash Area near Carlsbad, New Mexico. There has been some contention 
between oil and gas producers and the potash industry over how 
extensive oil and gas production should be in the area. The potash 
industry has claimed that drilling oil and gas wells variously 
prohibits recovery of potash deposits by them or creates safety risks 
to potash miners. The BLM New Mexico State Office has denied many 
applications for drilling permits (APDs) on the basis of those claims. 
For their part, the oil and gas leaseholders argue that such claims are 
baseless and point out that there has never been a safety incident in a 
potash mine from the oil and gas wells that already exist in the potash 
area. Additionally, they reference the 500,000 acres that constitute 
the Secretarial potash area are so vast that increased oil and gas 
development can be achieved without adversely impacting the potash 
industry.
  Last year, the BLM New Mexico State Director commissioned New Mexico 
Tech to conduct a thorough geological assessment of the oil and gas 
potential of the potash area. The State Director briefed congressional 
staff on the conclusions of the New Mexico Tech study on February 14, 
2006. Those conclusions are compelling in terms of the urgent need for 
more oil and gas in this country. After studying the geologic data in 
great detail, New Mexico Tech concluded that: ``Even considering only 
the Brushy Canyon and Morrow Formations, a large part of the SPA 
[Secretarial Potash Area] has significant future oil and gas potential 
along presently producing trends.'' The study further concludes: ``The 
Secretary of Interior's Potash Area is a prolific oil and gas producing 
region with significant future reserves. . . . [A]lmost the entire SPA 
is of interest for future development. . . . These formations . . . 
consist of extensive sandstones that have demonstrated production 
characteristics. . . . Horizontal wells have been demonstrated to work 
with good production, and drilling islands in areas with existing wells 
are one method of permitting sub-potash development in the future.''

  At that same recent briefing for Congressional staff, the BLM New 
Mexico state director acknowledged that her office has no data to 
support the claim of safety risks alleged by the potash companies, but 
expressed a desire to conduct more research on the issue to confidently 
issue more APDs for oil and gas drilling. The New Mexico State Director 
also informed congressional staff that she wanted to begin creation of 
a new co-development resource policy for the Secretarial potash area 
that would increase oil and gas production while avoiding any 
legitimate and avoidable adverse impact on current and future potash 
mining.
  The House Interior Appropriations bill provides the BLM Director with 
additional funding to accomplish the stated objective of creating such 
a new co-development policy. With BLM already having the full legal 
authority to create the new co-development policy, BLM can begin action 
now and does not need to wait even for the enactment of a final 
Interior Appropriations conference report to commence activity to 
create the new co-development policy. The only thing now standing in 
the way of that new policy and oil and gas production is action by the 
BLM New Mexico office. BLM must understand the seriousness of our 
intentions underlying this funding provision and the agency must 
appreciate that we want oil and gas production expedited as a result of 
this funding and soon. We are watching BLM to see action, and so are 
the American people.

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