[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 127 (Tuesday, July 29, 2008)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1580]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           OFFSHORE DRILLING

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                            HON. GENE GREEN

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, July 29, 2008

  Mr. GENE GREEN of Texas. Madam Speaker, with today's high price of 
gasoline, I would like to insert into the Record an article reprinted 
in the Baytown Sun which highlights the need for offshore drilling in 
our country.

           [From the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Jun. 24, 2008]

                           Offshore Drilling

       The legendary Willie Sutton robbed banks because, as he 
     famously explained, that's where the money was.
       The United States should take a cue from the late Sutton. 
     It needs to expand drilling for oil and natural gas in 
     offshore waters because that's where many of the nation's 
     biggest untapped petroleum deposits probably can be found. At 
     a time when gasoline prices have soared to the once-
     unthinkable level of $4 per gallon, the country is more 
     vulnerable than ever in terms of its exceptionally heavy 
     reliance on foreign oil.
       President Bush urged Wednesday that Congress remove a 27-
     year-old moratorium on offshore drilling. The ban includes 
     waters off the East and West Coasts and in the eastern Gulf 
     of Mexico off southwest Florida. Bush also called for 
     drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska and 
     areas of the western continental United States with large 
     oil-shale deposits.
       Annual U.S. oil production is about 1.8 billion barrels. 
     The Interior Department estimates that up to 10 times that 
     amount--about 19 billion barrels--is potentially recoverable 
     in offshore areas that currently are off-limits to drillers, 
     according to a McClatchy Newspapers report on Bush's 
     proposal.
       Democrats called the proposal a gimmick that will backfire 
     on the Republicans.
       The Star-Telegram Editorial Board long has supported 
     significantly expanded offshore drilling. We also favor 
     drilling in a limited portion of the Arctic refuge that 
     constitutes only about 8 percent of that vast preserve, which 
     is roughly the size of South Carolina. We're also open to 
     considering expanded drilling in some areas of the Western 
     U.S. . . .
       . . . Congress probably won't give serious consideration to 
     lifting the moratorium until after a new president takes 
     office in January. Even if the moratorium were lifted today, 
     motorists shouldn't expect any near-term relief from record-
     high fuel prices. Major offshore oil and natural gas projects 
     generally take several years to complete and are very 
     expensive. The price tag for a gigantic offshore oil 
     production platform in extremely deep waters could exceed $1 
     billion.
       Likewise, if the Arctic refuge suddenly were opened to 
     drilling, it could be 10 years before oil was produced.
       Nevertheless, adopting such policies to expand future oil 
     and natural gas production could contribute to lower energy 
     prices further down the line.
       In 2007, 26.8 percent of U.S. oil production and 14.2 
     percent of natural gas production came from offshore wells.
       An exciting discovery by Chevron and two partners in the 
     Gulf of Mexico in late 2006 illustrates the potential for big 
     fields offshore. A test oil well, dubbed ``Jack 2,'' was 
     drilled 175 miles off Louisiana to a total depth of 5.3 miles 
     (19 times the height of New York's 102-story Empire State 
     Building), making it the deepest well successfully tested in 
     the Gulf. It flowed at a prolific 6,000-plus barrels a day 
     and was drilled in a promising geological trend known as the 
     Lower Tertiary, which runs about 200 miles east to west and 
     30 to 40 miles north to south, Chevron spokesman Mickey 
     Driver said. The area potentially could yield 3 to 15 billion 
     barrels and become the largest domestic oil find since 
     Alaska's Prudhoe Bay discovery in 1968, according to media 
     reports.

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