More than 100 energy trade groups and organizations from the state and national levels urged the U.S. Department of the Interior to develop a new five-year offshore leasing program that fully leverages the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf as a secure source of affordable, reliable energy.
The groups seek expanded access to and development of the rich offshore resources in the Gulf of America, Alaska, the Pacific, and the Atlantic to “help sustain America’s growing energy advantage for decades to come,” wrote the groups wrote in a Jan. 16 letter sent to Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM).
As the BOEM prepares the 11th National Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program, the groups wrote that the administration must reject previous policies that blocked and restricted lease sales and closed off planning areas.
“A new, robust, and more predictable five-year offshore leasing program should be developed that includes expanded access and consistent lease sales, which reflects the reality of global energy demand and the many long-term benefits of OCS [Outer Continental Shelf] production,” according to their letter.
U.S. offshore production accounts for 14 percent of total U.S. crude oil production, or nearly two million barrels of oil per day, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
Therefore, the groups said, robust offshore oil and natural gas development could generate over $8 billion in additional government revenue by 2040.
“The undersigned groups urge the bureau to establish American energy dominance by allowing for more leasing, exploration, and development of U.S. offshore oil and natural gas resources in all OCS planning areas,” according to their letter. “OCS development is a critical economic driver and one of the main reasons America has become the world’s top producer of oil and natural gas.”
Among the national groups that signed the letter were the American Petroleum Institute, the Consumer Energy Alliance, the Domestic Energy Producers Alliance, the Energy Workforce & Technology Council, the Independent Petroleum Association of America, the Institute for Energy Research, the International Association of Drilling Contractors, the National Association of Manufacturers, the National Ocean Industries Association, the National Propane Gas Association, and the Marcellus Shale Coalition.
State-level organizations included those from West Virginia, Wisconsin, Virginia, Tennessee, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Louisiana, Mississippi, Ohio, New Mexico, North Carolina, and Missouri, among many others.