Scalise: Major Oil and Gas Discoveries are Positive Sign, Time for Administration to Let Safe Drilling Resume

Statement

Congressman Steve Scalise today issued the following statement after Exxon Mobil Corporation announced two major oil discoveries and a gas discovery in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico. The discoveries came from the company's first post-moratorium deepwater exploration well.

"This latest find by Exxon in the Gulf of Mexico is great news that reinforces what many of us have said all along: by exploring for our natural resources here at home we can create thousands of good jobs and reduce our dependence on Middle Eastern oil," Scalise said. "It's time that President Obama ends his permitorium on domestic drilling and allows people to go back to work drilling safely for energy in America. More than 13,000 people have lost their jobs as a result of this Administration's failure to understand how critical it is to let people get back to work, and discoveries like this further emphasize the devastating impact of the recent moratorium and permitorium. In order to lower the price of gas at the pump and decrease our dependence on Middle Eastern oil, it is vital that we are allowed to explore safely for our own domestic resources, while creating thousands of high paying jobs in the process."

The discovery is one of the largest discoveries in the Gulf of Mexico in the last decade.

Source