Sessions Pushes Interior Department to Move Ahead With Energy Exploration Plans

Press Release

New Leases in Gulf of Mexico will Help ‘Bolster Nation's Economy, Create New Jobs, and Decrease Dependence on Foreign Oil'

U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), a member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, is urging officials at the Department of the Interior to move forward with plans to lease 14 tracts of land in the deep waters of the Gulf of Mexico for future energy exploration.

In a letter to Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, Sessions and ten other senators called on the department to finalize and approve its Draft Proposed 5-Year Leasing Plan for 2010-2015. In addition to the Gulf leases, that plan proposes making areas off the coasts of Alaska, California, and Virginia available for oil and natural gas production.

The tracts included in the department's plan are thought to contain vast quantities of energy resources. By some estimates Alaska's Chukchi Sea alone contains as much oil and natural gas as the U.S. has produced in the Gulf of Mexico since 1942.

The department issued its draft lease plan in January, but has delayed its approval to allow for an extended public comment period that runs until September 21.

"I applaud the department for proposing a pro-energy leasing proposal that experts believe will result in the production of significant amounts of American oil and gas," Sessions said. "The bureaucratic process for opening new federal land for energy exploration is long and convoluted, and it's past time to put the plan in to action. Increasing production of American oil and gas will create new jobs and keep American wealth at home. "

Under a revenue sharing agreement reached in 2006, Alabama stands to share in revenues produced from the Gulf leases in the plan. That landmark agreement, part of the Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act, provides that 37.5 percent of oil and gas revenues generated from leases in the Gulf be shared between Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas.

The letter also encourages the department to keep the 2007-2012 leasing plan on course, arguing that its implementation will "allow for responsible leasing and development of America's energy resources and will help industries and businesses here at home that rely on natural gas and crude oil."

"We are far too dependent on foreign oil, and America's working families and small businesses are far too vulnerable to fluctuating energy prices," Sessions said. "We should continue pursuing long-term alternatives to fossil fuels, but, in the interim, the single most important step we can take is to allow more environmentally friendly energy exploration here at home."

Other senators signing the letter include Sens. Hutchinson (R-TX), Vitter (R-LA), Bond (R-MO), Voinovich (R-OH), Brownback (R-KS), Inhofe (R-OK), Barrasso (R-WY), Wicker (R-MS), Cornyn (R-TX), and Shelby (R-AL).
The full text of the letter is available on the web at www.sessions.senate.gov.

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