Domenici Statement on OCS Royalty Provisions in Interior Appropriations Bill
June 19, 2007
03:16 PM
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Pete Domenici, ranking member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, today issued the following language regarding provisions in the FY2008 Interior Appropriations bill that address an error made by the Clinton Administration on deepwater leases in 1998 and 1999:
“As the ranking member of the committee with jurisdiction on this issue, I believe it would best be solved through the regular process in the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, rather than in an appropriations bill.
“It is unfortunate that an error made by the Clinton Administration when they negotiated deepwater leases has cost the Federal Treasury so much money. However, the way to address this error is not through a punitive provision that will only result in years worth of litigation.
“In addition, the provision in the bill would quite possibly increase the cost of energy and decrease our domestic supply—exactly the opposite of what we should be doing at a time when gas prices are so high.
“The Senate is on notice that the Department of Interior –the lessor—has told us that a provision like Senator Feinstein’s could cost us a three-year delay in leasing. That would result in a loss of 1.6 billion barrels of domestic oil and $13 billion over 10 years. That is simply unacceptable.
“As a result, I strongly oppose the language in this bill and will offer an amendment to strike it at the full committee markup on Thursday.”
