WATCHING WASHINGTON NATIONAL ENERGY POLICY REVISITED

With Patrick Crow Energy Sec. Hazel O'Leary announced last week she wants the oil industry's help in drafting, by the end of summer, a strategy to increase U.S. oil and gas production. In a talk to the Louisiana legislature, she explained it is her duty to present a coherent set of policies that will provide increased production of energy while maintaining a strong commitment to environmental protection. "Too often," she said, "the government has sent mixed signals to domestic

May 3, 1993

3 min read

Energy Sec. Hazel O'Leary announced last week she wants the oil industry's help in drafting, by the end of summer, a strategy to increase U.S. oil and gas production.

In a talk to the Louisiana legislature, she explained it is her duty to present a coherent set of policies that will provide increased production of energy while maintaining a strong commitment to environmental protection.

MIXED SIGNALS

"Too often," she said, "the government has sent mixed signals to domestic producers, making producers unable to make business decisions based upon a clear understanding of regulatory policy.

"By working with industry to set forth this type of strategy, we will develop a joint plan that will lead to expanded opportunities for domestic oil and gas producers."

O'Leary will ask other agencies, especially the Interior Department and Environmental Protection Agency, to help draft the oil and gas strategy.

But she said oil operators can provide the most important input. "We will begin this process by talking with the affected industries to determine the real challenges that face domestic producers and then discussing joint industry and government solutions to these problems.

"This type of dialogue will make this project useful and meaningful to all of those who are a part of the domestic oil and gas industries.

"The goal of this project will be to develop new and expanded opportunities for jobs in the domestic oil and gas industries while fostering a climate which will increase production from domestic resource bases and reduce our reliance on foreign oil."

Cynics might say the timing of O'Leary's program is rather suspect because it will come at the same time Congress considers the administration's proposed BTU tax which the industry says would shut in thousands of marginal wells and more than a few refineries.

Cynics also might say a couple of strategies already exist: the Reagan administration's 1987 energy security program and the Bush administration's 1991 National Energy Strategy. Surely someone at DOE could provide O'Leary copies.

'HELPING' THE INDUSTRY

And what came of those programs? The former was quickly forgotten. Last year Congress used the latter to draft the National Energy Policy Act, which did nothing to promote oil and gas production and came close to banning more drilling offshore.

Although it's not likely to find anything new, Bill Clinton's administration certainly should be expected to want its own plan.

But its avowed desire to "help" the oil industry is ironic because it also proposes to tax oil at double the rate of other fuels and even tax most energy used to produce oil and gas.