Senate moves closer to final vote on gulf OCS bill
Nick Snow
Washington Correspondent
WASHINGTON, DC, Aug. 1 -- The US Senate moved closer to passing a bill to expand federal oil and gas leasing in the Gulf of Mexico on July 31 as it agreed to limit debate by a 72-23 vote.
Majority Leader William H. Frist (R-Tenn.) urged prompt final debate and voting on S. 3711 soon after the Senate reconvened Aug. 1 so it could move on to other issues before recessing at week's end.
The bill effectively will put 1 billion bbl of crude and 5 tcf of gas on the market, Frist said.
"Ask any Midwestern farmer about the impact of higher natural gas prices and he'll tell you how much more he's paying for the fertilizer he needs to raise his crops. This bill matters," Frist said.
Final debate on the measure was initially delayed, however, as senators discussed whether to debate a bill to repeal the federal estate tax and raise the required minimum wage.
Nevertheless, the Senate appeared ready to pass its Gulf of Mexico OCS leasing bill before the day ended with a final vote scheduled for 5 p.m. EDT after easily invoking cloture the day before by a 12-vote margin.
"I think the wide margin of this vote reflects the growing bipartisan conviction in the Senate that we must act now to stabilize these prices," Energy and Natural Resources Committee Chairman Pete V. Domenici (R-NM) said soon after the vote to limit debate. "It reflects the conviction that this bill is the most important thing we can do now to stop these spiraling prices and increase our supplies," he said.
Domenici said the vote came as gas prices jumped 11% in a single day in response to record heat in many parts of the country. "America's supply of natural gas is so tight that when the thermometer soars, our gas prices promptly soar too," Domenici said. In the last 6 years, he said, Americans' spending for gas has quadrupled to more than $200 billion/year.
The bill includes a provision to share future federal OCS revenues from leasing in the gulf with Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas. A second provision would establish a 125-mile buffer off Florida's coast in which oil and gas activity would be banned for 16 years. Both were compromises to win support of the five Gulf Coast states' senators.
"The vote today signals the Senate's strong endorsement of a bill that would offer Louisiana a significant share of revenue from the energy production off its shores," said Mary L. Landrieu (D-La.), who led revenue-sharing negotiations with Senate leaders. "With that revenue, we can put in place a long-term strategy to protect our people and our coastline."
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