Safer Oil and Natural Gas Drilling Technology Research and Development Act

Floor Speech

* Mr. DOYLE. Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of the Safer Oil and Natural Gas Drilling Technology Research and Development Act.

* The Deepwater Horizon explosion and oil spill has highlighted the pressing need for research on technology to make deepwater drilling for oil and natural gas safer and cleaner.

* While the investigations into the causes of the disaster are still ongoing, the disaster has already made Congress and the public aware of the significant shortcomings in much of the oil industry's current deepwater drilling technology--most notably its blowout preventers.

* This legislation refocuses the Department of Energy's deepwater drilling research to place higher priority on research on technology that will increase the safety and reliability of deepwater drilling technology in the years to come--and rightly so.

* The National Energy Technology Laboratories facility in southwestern Pennsylvania has been the Department of Energy's leader in research on ultra-deepwater drilling for oil and natural gas for many years. NETL has a talented staff with unparalleled expertise and a long and successful record of research projects to improve the safety and efficiency of fossil fuel production technologies like deepwater drilling. It only makes sense that this legislation preserves the National Energy Technology Laboratories' role in conducting research on a subject on which they have so much knowledge and experience.

* I am pleased that Chairman GORDON has confirmed that it is the Committee's intention that the National Energy Technology Laboratories will continue their important work on deepwater drilling research under the Safer Oil and Natural Gas Drilling Technology Research program addressed in this legislation.

* I commend the Chairman, Ranking Member, and members of the Committee for drafting legislation to shift the focus of the Department of Energy's deepwater drilling research to prioritize safety and environmental protection. It's clear from the Deepwater Horizon tragedy that there's a pressing need to dedicate more resources to this important goal.

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