Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senators Pete Domenici, Jeff Bingaman, Jim Talent and Byron Dorgan plan to introduce legislation today instructing the Secretary of the Interior to develop an oil and gas leasing program for Lease Area 181 100 miles off the Florida Coast and West of the Military Mission Line. The senators will file the bill at approximately 5 p.m.

The lease program, which must begin within a year after the bill is passed into law, will bring nearly 5 trillion cubic feet of natural gas to market in the near future, according to estimates by the Minerals Management Service. That is enough gas to heat nearly five million homes for 15 years, according to the American Gas Association.

The bill excludes for development any part of Lease Area 181 within 100 miles of the Florida coastline. This includes the area commonly known as “the Stovepipe.” The bill also places special conditions on any leasing east of the Military Mission Line. Leasing in that area can only proceed with the permission of the Secretary of Defense and only after he has reviewed proposed lease conditions to make certain the lease does not interfere with military activities in the area.  The Senate Energy & Natural Resources Committee will hold a hearing on the bill later this month. The sponsoring senators made the following statements:

Senator Domenici:

“This bill does not in any way alter the moratorium law on the OCS. The areas cited in this bill are not under moratorium. This bill will not interfere with the viewscapes from the coast, the environment or the military activity in the area.  Opening this area is our best opportunity to bring a lot of gas to market swiftly and make a real difference with supply and price.

“Natural gas prices have been climbing steadily for six years. Spot prices peaked at $15.43 per million btu seven weeks ago. Prices have fallen since because of warm weather, but they have been climbing steadily since 2000. In 2005, the average price for gas was almost double what it was in 2004. This bill will make a real difference in the prices people pay to heat their homes and run their businesses. America has a choice. We can have affordable natural gas or we can continue to bury our heads in the sand while our utility bills soar, farmers can’t afford to fertilize their fields and our manufacturing jobs continue to migrate overseas. I choose to act.”

Senator Bingaman:

 “Directing the Interior Department to lease parts of the 181 Area is an important near-term action that Congress can take to bolster our nation’s energy supplies. In this time of high prices, these resources can make a big contribution to our future domestic energy security and help lower the costs that consumers, businesses and farmers will pay for natural gas in the future.

“While I appreciate that there are environmental sensitivities associated with offshore drilling in the Eastern Gulf of Mexico, I am confident that development in this area can be done in an environmentally sound manner, and that lessees will be held to the highest environmental and safety standards.”

Senator Talent:

“The best way to protect our energy security is to become more energy independent by accessing our domestic resources.  We need to continue to support renewable fuels like ethanol and biodiesel as we did in last year’s Energy bill with the leadership of Chairman Domenici.  And we need to pass this legislation which will increase our natural gas supply and help keep home heating prices as low as possible over the long term.  This is a pro-growth, pro-jobs bill that will help energy consumers and increase our domestic supply of natural gas.

“High energy prices have forced our citizens, industry and farmers to pay too much for too long.  An abundant supply of clean, reliable domestically-produced energy is the key to our economic prosperity and energy independence.”

Senator Dorgan:

“This bipartisan legislation and aims to do something very important -- increase our domestic supplies of energy. That’s essential if we are to bring prices down, as both gasoline and natural gas prices continue to spike upwards. Opening Lease 181 makes particularly good sense, since the infrastructure can be put in place quickly. That means we could see the benefit of doing this, lower prices, in a relatively short period of time. So I hope the Senate takes this up very soon.”