Rep. Foster to Big Oil: What Are You Waiting For?

Press Release

68 Million Acres Remain Untapped and Ready for Exploration

Continuing to work to reduce the high price of gas, Rep. Bill Foster (IL-14) today sent a message to Big Oil, telling them to explore and develop millions of acres of federally leased lands and water that are currently sitting idle.

"Oil and gas companies currently have leases for 68 million acres of land that they are not exploring for oil production," Foster said. "We can produce domestic oil now on land that is already leased, but these companies are perfectly content to leave these lands undeveloped, playing games with public resources to continue their record breaking profits."

Currently, energy companies are able to stockpile federal land and water leases without pursuing exploration and development of these federal resources. Foster co-sponsored the Responsible Federal Oil and Gas Lease Act, legislation aimed at ending this practice.

"Right now, oil and gas companies have the ability to reduce our dependence on foreign oil, increase the supply of oil and decrease gas prices by increasing domestic production," Foster said. "The federal land and water that these companies have leased have the potential of producing 4.8 million barrels of oil every day, nearly doubling total U.S. oil production. Today, I'm sending Big Oil a simple message - use it or lose it."

The bill would force oil and gas companies to either produce or give up federal onshore and offshore leases that are stockpiling by barring the companies from obtaining any more leases unless they can demonstrate that they are producing oil and gas or are actively developing these leases.

"I am proud to continue standing up for the families in the 14th district of Illinois, working towards common-sense solutions that will address the energy crisis," Foster said.

Source