Washington, D.C. – Senate Energy & Natural Resources Chairman Pete Domenici commended Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke for his astute assessment of the global and U.S. energy situation in remarks made today before the Economic Club of Chicago. Domenici also announced plans to explore options for encouraging the expansion of U.S. oil refining capacity.

Chairman Domenici’s statement:

“I am impressed with Chairman Bernanke’s thoughtful and informed assessment today of our energy situation. Most of his remarks affirmed the decisions we made last year when we wrote EPACT 05.  We encouraged increased conservation and new technologies, particularly nuclear power and clean coal technologies, to take the pressure off of oil and gas. We encouraged the production and use of renewable energies like wind and solar power and biofuels such as ethanol. Mr. Bernanke said today that market mechanisms will move the country toward a greater use of these fuels and technologies as oil and gas prices remain high.

"We also centralized the siting process for LNG facilities. I agree with Chairman Bernanke that natural gas imports will play a key role in bringing down natural gas prices.

"But I believe we must do more to encourage greater refinery capacity, including the capacity to process heavy oil. The House refinery bill has been referred to my committee and I intend to explore options for encouraging the responsible expansion of our oil refining capacity."

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