Two House committees pass oil and gas supply bills

Sept. 29, 2005
The two US House committees with jurisdiction over energy reported separate bills aimed at increasing domestic oil and gas supplies. The Energy and Commerce Committee's measure passed along party lines, with support from Republicans and opposition from Democrats. The Resource Committee's bill had bipartisan support, passing 27-16, with four Democrats voting for it.

Nick Snow
Washington Correspondent

WASHINGTON, DC, Sept. 29 -- The two US House committees with jurisdiction over energy reported separate bills aimed at increasing domestic oil and gas supplies. The Energy and Commerce Committee's measure passed along party lines, with support from Republicans and opposition from Democrats. The Resource Committee's bill had bipartisan support, passing 27-16, with four Democrats voting for it.

The Energy and Commerce Committee approved the Gasoline for America's Security Act, developed by chairman Joe Barton (R-Tex.), which aims to encourage construction of refineries and reduce the number of gasoline and fuel formulations from 19 to 6.

The bill also directs the Federal Trade Commission to launch an investigation into "price gouging" and encourages carpooling.

"Our country needs more oil refineries because the people who work for a living need gasoline to get to work," Barton said following the bill's passage by the committee. "These are the people who earn paychecks and buy groceries and pay their bills, including their taxes. That means they use gasoline every day. They need it, and they need it at a price they can afford to pay."

The bill aims to encourage building of refineries by attempting to reform cumbersome siting procedures, providing regulatory risk insurance, encouraging President Bush to designate sites on federal lands (including at least three closed military bases) that would be appropriate for refineries, and allowing the president to permit operation of a refinery to make products for the armed forces.

The measure also reforms siting and construction requirements for pipelines and for pipeline expansions and requires Energy Secretary Samuel W. Bodman to issue regulations requiring crude and product pipelines to have sufficient backup power capacity to remain operating during outages of normal electrical power. It also tries to accelerate construction of a natural gas pipeline from Alaska to the Lower 48.

Democrats protest
Democrats on the committee protested that the bill was going to mark-up on Wednesday without adequate preparation. Chief Minority Member John D. Dingell of Michigan complained that members received the legislation after the close of business the previous Friday and that no hearings had been held.

"Poorly thought-out and poorly vetted efforts to pass industrial and ideological wish lists are not the way to respond to the actual energy issues raised by Katrina," Dingell said in his opening statement.

Democrats offered a substitute bill, which the committee rejected, that would have established a strategic refinery reserve, modeled after the existing reserve for crude oil. It would have been designed to fill 5% of the nation's total products demand. The provision would have given the energy secretary authorization to design and construct new facilities or acquire and reopen previously closed plants.

The proposal would have allowed the refinery reserve to be tapped under criteria similar to those of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. In nonemergency situations, refineries in the reserve would have provided products to the armed services and other parts of the federal government, reducing the time necessary to rise to full production during emergencies because they'd already be operating to some extent.

ANWR leasing
The Resources Committee's bill would authorize leasing on the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge coastal plain in Alaska and federal deepwater OCS leasing for natural gas exploration and development, among other provisions.

"Over the last few decades, we have regulated our needs into certain areas and into a dangerous dependence on foreign sources. This legislation will lead to increased and more diverse US energy supplies to prevent disruptions and to bring future price relief," said Rep. Richard W. Pombo (R-Calif.), the committee's chairman.

In the Senate, meanwhile, the Energy and Natural Resources Committee scheduled a meeting in Washington for Oct. 6 to receive an update of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita's effects on Gulf Coast energy systems and to learn the status of recovery efforts.

Contact Nick Snow at [email protected].