Florida House wants release from moratorium on gas/oil in Gulf

The House General Government Policy Council today approved House Memorial (CS/HM) 21 by Representative Seth McKeel (R-Lakeland) that would call on the United States Congress to continue its support of the expiration of the Congressional moratoria, removal of the Presidential withdrawal prohibiting oil and natural gas leasing of the Outer continental Shelf (OCS), and support modification of the Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act of 2006. He released the following statement:

“For too long, Florida has missed out on receiving revenue from oil and gas leases in federal waters off our coasts,” stated Representative McKeel. “By urging Congress to continue its support of the expiration of the moratorium and removing the Presidential withdrawal, this measure will provide Florida with our fair share of revenues derived from oil and gas industry leases and will allow us a place at the table alongside other Gulf producing states in matters of environmental protection, energy independence, and national energy security matters.”

In addition to calling for the end of the oil and natural gas moratorium in Gulf waters, the memorial also requests the addition of Florida to “Gulf producing States,” a designation that would allow Florida to share in the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) revenues from the production of oil and natural gas. Currently, the OCS supplies more than 25 percent of the country’s natural gas production and more than 30 percent of total domestic oil production. The offshore areas of the United States contain the majority of future oil and gas resources. It is estimated that 60 percent of the oil and 59 percent of the gas yet to be discovered in the United States are located in the OCS. Oil and natural gas reserves are generally located more than nine miles from Florida’s shoreline.

CS/HM 21 now moves to the House Rules & Calendar Council for consideration by the full House.

Related posts:

1. No means no! Stop the oil madness and take action today!

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Posted by admin on Mar 31 2009. Filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry