[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 39 (Tuesday, March 15, 2011)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1619-S1620]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                           ENERGY PRODUCTION

  Mr. HOEVEN. Madam President, I would like to speak this morning on an 
issue that I believe is of great importance to our economy and to our 
national security. In recent weeks, we have seen political turmoil in 
Libya and Egypt and Tunisia and throughout the Middle East and other 
North African nations.
  Only time will tell what the outcome of these historic events will 
be. What is clear, however, is that there is, once again, disruption in 
the worlds's petroleum supplies as a result of the turmoil in this 
region of the world, and American consumers and businesses are feeling 
the brunt of it.
  In the United States, we have seen the price of gasoline and other 
petroleum products increase dramatically. The pain is particularly 
sharp at the pump.
  Over the last few weeks, retail gasoline prices have risen to more 
than $3.50 a gallon. They are expected to rise to more than $3.70 a 
gallon during the peak summer driving season and, of course, they could 
go substantially higher. This is a reflection of what is happening in 
the crude oil commodity markets around the world. In fact, the Energy 
Information Administration's latest forecast of the average West Texas 
spot price for the remainder of this year increased from $93 a barrel 
to more than $100 a barrel. The EIA expects continued tightening of 
world oil markets in the next 2 years in light of the events in North 
Africa and in the Middle East.
  For example, in Libya it is widely reported that much of the 
country's 1.6 million barrels a day of total production in 2010 has 
been largely shut down. It is unclear how long this will last. However, 
the reality is that the problem is not a matter of current supply. 
Prices are going up not because of lack of supply but because of 
concerns in the market about future supplies. Therefore, to address 
this problem, we must increase domestic production. We must produce 
more American energy, and we can do it.
  Furthermore, taking steps now to create a legal, tax, and regulatory 
environment that will stimulate more domestic production will help take 
pressure off prices even before that supply comes on line, as markets 
anticipate more production.
  Of course, the opposite scenario exists today as markets anticipate 
less supply from the Middle East and they do not see the commitment 
domestically to offset that reduction in supply. We must change that 
perception by taking real action to encourage production here at home. 
Stalled energy projects and impediments to domestic oil production in 
our own country are costing our Nation's economy billions of dollars 
and millions of jobs.
  A study released last week by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce says 351 
energy projects, both renewable and traditional, are stalled, at a cost 
of $1.1 trillion to the American economy and nearly 2 million jobs for 
the American people. When we combine disruptions in foreign sources of 
production and a domestic market hobbled by bureaucracy and delays, the 
result is higher energy prices, a sluggish economy, and fewer jobs. 
That is exactly what we see happening. That should be a cause of huge 
concern, but it should also be a huge call to action. There is a path 
out of this for America, a path we in my home State of North Dakota 
successfully followed starting a decade ago by building a comprehensive 
energy plan called Empower North Dakota.
  Through Empower North Dakota, we worked to create a business climate 
that incentivized energy companies across all industry sectors, 
including the oil industry, to invest in our State. We created the kind 
of legal, tax, and regulatory certainty that attracted capital, 
expertise, and jobs to North Dakota. In fact, when we started 10 years 
ago, oil companies had either left or they were leaving the oil-
producing region in our State, the Williston Basin. Why was that?
  First, they were getting better returns elsewhere. Technology was 
lacking to produce oil economically from new formations. Companies were 
going to other places in the world where they could extract oil less 
expensively. Second, data on confirmed reserves was lacking, and the 
technology to produce oil from shale wasn't sufficiently developed. 
Third, the workforce was aging, and we lacked the training and 
education for new workers. And fourth, transport constraints limited 
production. In other words, there were better places for the industry 
to invest shareholder dollars and earn a return.
  To turn that around, we built a climate for investment. We 
established an oil and gas research fund paid for by the industry. We 
put tax incentives in place. We initiated studies of the Bakken 
formation at the heart of the Williston Basin through the North Dakota 
Geological Survey. That was followed by a U.S. Geological Survey study. 
I have requested another USGS study I believe will demonstrate that we 
have billions more in recoverable oil reserves in our State.
  We also improved infrastructure. We created a pipeline authority to 
expand transportation capacity, and we established a center of 
excellence for petroleum safety and technology at Williston State 
College to train workers in oilfield drilling and recovery methods. 
Before that we had to send workers to Wyoming or Oklahoma and other 
places for training and education. Now we do it in our State.
  In response, our enhanced business environment drew investment 
capital, technology, and ingenuity to Williston Basin which unlocked 
the potential of North Dakota's oil patch. We took full advantage of 
the Bakken and Three Forks, which are deep shale formations with 
billions of barrels of oil locked away in porous rock, by using 
innovative, unconventional technologies and with good environmental 
stewardship.
  To release the oil, companies in North Dakota use hydraulic 
fracturing which involves pumping water under pressure deep into the 
Earth to crack the shale and release the crude oil. The water is then 
recycled or deposited safely back into the ground 2 miles down, well 
below, far below the water table. Companies also use directional 
drilling which enables drilling rigs to drill one vertical bore and 
multiple horizontal bores deep in the ground, producing more oil with a 
smaller footprint and, again, better environmental stewardship.
  As a result, this year North Dakota will produce more than 120 
million barrels of oil. That number is growing dramatically. This is 
sweet crude oil.
  Since 2006, we have grown to become the fourth largest oil-producing 
State among all 50 States in the Union, passing States such as Oklahoma 
and most recently Louisiana. Bear in mind that in North Dakota the 
measures we took were not about government spending. They were about 
creating an environment for private investment that generated revenues 
for the State, broadened the economic base, and actually enabled us to 
reduce taxes. This isn't a Republican or a Democratic issue. It is an 
American issue, and it will take both parties to fix it. That is why I 
am cosponsoring a bill with Senator Roberts that actually works with a 
directive from President Obama.
  The Regulatory Responsibility for Our Economy Act will give the force 
of law to a Presidential Executive order issued in January. The order 
proposes to review rules that may be outmoded, ineffective, or 
excessively burdensome, and to modify, streamline, or repeal them. We 
are all committed to good environmental stewardship and effective 
consumer protections. But the President's order acknowledges that 
Federal regulations are hindering the Nation's economic growth and our 
ability to create jobs. The law we are proposing, if passed, will make 
sure we take a clear-eyed look at our rules and help to bring 
regulatory and legal certainty to the markets.
  While we are working to produce more oil in America, with the right 
approach, with the approach I am describing, we can also enlist the 
help of our friend and close ally to the north, Canada. To do that, for 
example, we need to complete some very ambitious projects that need 
permitting and approval. One example is the Keystone XL pipeline. This 
$12 billion, high-tech transcontinental petroleum pipeline is designed 
to carry crude from the Canadian oil sands in Alberta to the Gulf of 
Mexico. As it passes through the Midwest, an onramp will receive 
midwestern sweet crude from States such as North Dakota and Montana to 
mix with the heavier Canadian crude and send it to refineries that will 
turn it into gasoline and diesel fuel in America. With no overseas 
involvement, this

[[Page S1620]]

one promising project would help double current flows of oil from 
Canada, which is already our No. 1 trading partner.
  One estimate projects that the project will create--and these are 
numbers the company has put forward in advancing this project--at least 
20,000 high-paying jobs during the construction phase and more than 
250,000 permanent jobs. It will spur more than $100 billion in annual 
total expenditures in the U.S. economy. It will generate $6.5 billion 
in new personal income for U.S. workers and their families, and it will 
stimulate nearly $600 million in revenue for State and local 
governments along its route.
  Federal approval is something that will cost our Nation not one 
penny. What it will do, however, is create assurances in markets that 
the energy we need to power our Nation will be there in the future, and 
it will be there when we need it. That in turn will help to reduce our 
dependence on unstable overseas regimes, hold down the cost of gasoline 
at the pump, and create thousands of good American jobs at a time when 
unemployment is still hovering at about 9 percent.
  Keystone XL is just one example. Across America there are hundreds of 
projects like it that could be advanced with good environmental 
stewardship and responsible oversight, if we resolve to do it and we 
create the climate to do it.
  Today the United States, Canada, and Mexico combined produce 75 
percent of the total oil we need. We can do much more. Our Nation needs 
to send a signal to energy markets that the United States is committed 
to a policy of aggressive domestic energy development by creating a 
strong business environment and a pro-energy agenda, including the 
legal, tax, and regulatory certainty companies need in order to make 
the kinds of investments that will truly lessen our dependence on 
foreign oil.
  We are at a moment in history when we can truly turn adversity into 
opportunity and potential into reality. I urge Members to seize this 
opportunity to make America stronger, safer, and more financially 
secure with a comprehensive approach to truly develop American energy 
right here at home, to meet our needs both now and for future 
generations. We can do it. We must do it, for the well-being of our 
country today and for future generations.
  I thank the Chair for this opportunity, yield the floor, and suggest 
the absence of a quorum.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will call the roll.
  The assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Ms. LANDRIEU. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so 
ordered.

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