[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 160 (2014), Part 11]
[House]
[Pages 15996-15997]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                    GAS PRICES AND ENERGY PRODUCTION

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Pennsylvania (Mr. Thompson) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania. Madam Speaker, according to the Energy 
Information Administration, today's national average price for retail 
gasoline is $2.97. This is the lowest price in over a 4-year period 
beginning in October of 2010.
  Gasoline prices have decreased by roughly 21 percent in the last 6 
months alone. One of the most prevalent factors determining the price 
of gasoline at the pump is the international average of the cost of a 
barrel of crude oil.
  Now, over the past week, the price of crude oil per barrel has 
hovered between $77.15 and $77.85. These are the lowest per-barrel 
prices since June of 2012, just over 2 years, a stark contrast to $145 
per barrel in May of 2008.
  The Energy Information Administration has projected that gasoline 
prices at the pump will continue to decline in December to somewhere 
around $2.80 a gallon and possibly even lower in 2015.
  Additionally, U.S. natural gas prices are roughly $4.24, as 
production continues to flourish. This is all welcome news for 
consumers, businesses, and the economy, from more affordable 
transportation to heating our homes, from the food we consume to 
American manufacturing having lower costs, therefore being more 
competitive globally. Lower energy costs are good for our economy 
overall.
  Now, there are many factors as to why gasoline prices fluctuate. They 
include international market trends and geopolitical events, as well as 
weather and impacts upon refining capacity due to natural disasters.
  While a downed economy has decreased annual demand for gasoline as 
the summer travel season comes to an end, the price decreases for 
gasoline can largely be attributed to an increase in domestic supply.
  At any other time in our history, given today's world events, our gas 
prices would be pushing $4 a gallon. Especially with the ongoing 
recession, American energy production has thankfully increased in 
recent years, and gas prices have decreased.
  While some in Washington would like to credit the Federal Government 
with the increased supply, the truth is that the vast majority of this 
domestic production has occurred in spite of Federal actions, not 
because of them.

[[Page 15997]]

  The great majority of the production has occurred on private and 
State-owned lands and has been the result of technological enhancements 
that have made shale gas and oil reserves more attainable.
  Specifically, this increase in production stems from the combination 
of horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing. Pennsylvania, for 
example, is currently third in State production of natural gas. The 
Commonwealth has produced 3.2 trillion cubic feet in 2013 alone.
  Increased production has bolstered domestic energy supplies and 
directly led to historically low natural gas prices across the U.S. 
This comes on the heels of alltime high prices in 2008 of about $12. 
Production in Pennsylvania has provided royalty payments to landowners, 
while contributing significant funds to counties.
  Madam Speaker, private and State-owned lands have changed the face of 
energy production and affordability in our country. The Federal 
Government would stand to gain by following suit. This starts with 
opening up new areas of Federal lands, both onshore and offshore, for 
the production of our natural resources.
  These resources belong to the people. There is no reason the 
administration should continue to play games with energy security. Over 
the last 4 years, the House has made a priority of moving legislation 
that would increase our domestic energy production supply.
  Just this past September, the House passed H.R. 2, which was a 
combination of 13 energy-related bills, among them is the Keystone XL 
pipeline, increasing the amount of permitted onshore and offshore lands 
for development, along with streamlining cumbersome energy permitting 
regulations. The bill sets timelines for agencies' permitting decisions 
and would provide for more pipelines and liquefied natural gas exports.
  Many of these actions can be taken by the executive branch, but the 
administration has not acted. As we have witnessed in recent years, 
through the development of private lands, increasing our domestic 
energy supplies and encouraging American production will have a 
positive impact on energy prices here at home.
  Increased domestic energy production of oil and natural gas has eased 
the financial pain at the pump. This is also welcome as temperatures 
drop and the home heating season has begun.
  The bottom line is the government can do much more to influence 
energy prices for American consumers. The time for the administration 
to act is long overdue.

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