Marcellus Shale Natural Gas
Floor Speech
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Mr. ALTMIRE. I thank my friend, and I thank my neighbor from Pennsylvania as well. It's good to have a bipartisan discussion on an issue that is critical to this country--our energy independence and using our domestic reserves.
In Pennsylvania, we have a unique circumstance, as does New York, in that $4 million is invested in producing each Marcellus shale well, and with 2,500 wells produced annually just in Pennsylvania, we're talking about $10 billion that is invested in Marcellus shale sites. That's money that's coming right back into Pennsylvania. That's money that would be coming back into New York if the gentleman had his way, which I would support.
When we talk about natural gas--and we're going to get into the details, and we have gotten into the details of Marcellus shale, in particular, and what a great find this has been for the country--we think about ways that we can use the natural gas that results from Marcellus shale, things like natural gas-powered vehicles. We're going to have a discussion later in the year on an energy bill here in this Congress--it will be a bipartisan bill--as natural gas is going to be a critical part of our Nation's energy future.
Think about the great work that the scientists are doing on the research and development of natural gas vehicles, on the production of natural gas vehicles, on the purchasing and conversion in the country, and on finding a way to give tax credits to consumers so they can convert their vehicles into natural gas operating.
Then of course you have the chicken and the egg situation of who's going to go first. Do you have the filling station before you have the car or do you have the car before you have the filling station? We have to do both together. We have to incentivize the stations to put natural gas pumps at their stations and, of course, incentivize the conversion of the natural gas vehicle, which helps all of us. With the price of gas nearing and exceeding $4 in many States in the country, this is only going to help with our energy future.
When you think about North America in particular, this is so exciting because gas resources are much larger, and the cost of producing gas is much lower because of the find of the Marcellus shale. If you are in a household in this country that doesn't get its electricity from natural gas, your electricity bill is still going to be lower because of the resources that we have, because of the abundance of natural gas.
We're talking about cheap energy because of the volume that we're talking about, unprecedented reserves that exceed the oil under Saudi Arabia, as the gentleman was discussing earlier. The ability of the United States to store natural gas has improved dramatically over the years.
So now we're in position where we can produce the gas, we can use it domestically to bring down the cost of electricity, we can store it, and we're going to export some of this gas as well. The market for natural gas around the world is increasing because of the Marcellus shale find in Pennsylvania and in New York and West Virginia and Virginia, Ohio. This is really a wonderful thing for this country.
And the total U.S. natural gas production in 2010 just last year was at its highest level ever. In 2010, the natural gas production in this country was at its highest level ever compared to oil consumption, which, since 2005, has dropped more than 5 percent, and natural gas use has risen 10 percent in that time. Of course, that's preceding the big find with the Marcellus shale. So we're only going to see that grow and thrive.
So we're keeping energy prices low. We're making ourselves energy independent, which is critical. There's a national security issue to that. There's an economic and a jobs issue which we're seeing in Pennsylvania firsthand. And of course there's an energy issue to that, how we're going to continue to grow our energy resources.
So I congratulate the gentleman for leading the discussion tonight, and I look forward to continuing not just tonight but beyond because this has to be part of our energy future in this country. And it was the cover of ``Time'' magazine. So when you think about the Nation paying attention, the spotlight being on our region of the country, it truly is because this is something that's going to benefit everybody in this country.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Mr. ALTMIRE. I was going to actually segue into that exact point, because I know the gentleman from New York was going to talk about the process. And it's important to keep in mind there, of course, are always going to be concerns with doing the drilling as safely as possible, limiting any impact on the drinking water. And I know we are going to talk about the process.
Consider the fact that we're talking about drilling that has been done for decades safely, thousands and thousands of wells drilled in this process without any repercussions, any negative impact all across the country, and now beginning in the Marcellus shale area. We are talking about a water table, the drinking water at approximately 500 feet. The drilling takes place a mile below that, 5,000, 6,000 feet below the water table. It has been proven in the decades and decades and thousands and thousands of wells that have been drilled that if you do it correctly, if the company is diligent, if they follow the proper procedures, they can do it without harm. It's been proven.
Now, yes, as happens in any industry, energy or otherwise, if you have bad actors and you have people that don't follow the right procedures, that cut corners, then the potential would exist for a bad outcome. But that happens in any business, in any industry. So we do need to make sure that the drillers, and by and large they have shown the ability do this safely, continue to do that and pay attention to the rules and the regulations. But we can't in any way put a burden upon the drillers that exceeds the risk factor.
We need to make sure that we are cultivating the resources, we are doing it in the appropriate and proven safe way as we have done for decades. I turn it over to the gentleman from New York.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Mr. ALTMIRE. I thank my friend, and I thank my neighbor from Pennsylvania as well. It's good to have a bipartisan discussion on an issue that is critical to this country--our energy independence and using our domestic reserves.
In Pennsylvania, we have a unique circumstance, as does New York, in that $4 million is invested in producing each Marcellus shale well, and with 2,500 wells produced annually just in Pennsylvania, we're talking about $10 billion that is invested in Marcellus shale sites. That's money that's coming right back into Pennsylvania. That's money that would be coming back into New York if the gentleman had his way, which I would support.
When we talk about natural gas--and we're going to get into the details, and we have gotten into the details of Marcellus shale, in particular, and what a great find this has been for the country--we think about ways that we can use the natural gas that results from Marcellus shale, things like natural gas-powered vehicles. We're going to have a discussion later in the year on an energy bill here in this Congress--it will be a bipartisan bill--as natural gas is going to be a critical part of our Nation's energy future.
Think about the great work that the scientists are doing on the research and development of natural gas vehicles, on the production of natural gas vehicles, on the purchasing and conversion in the country, and on finding a way to give tax credits to consumers so they can convert their vehicles into natural gas operating.
Then of course you have the chicken and the egg situation of who's going to go first. Do you have the filling station before you have the car or do you have the car before you have the filling station? We have to do both together. We have to incentivize the stations to put natural gas pumps at their stations and, of course, incentivize the conversion of the natural gas vehicle, which helps all of us. With the price of gas nearing and exceeding $4 in many States in the country, this is only going to help with our energy future.
When you think about North America in particular, this is so exciting because gas resources are much larger, and the cost of producing gas is much lower because of the find of the Marcellus shale. If you are in a household in this country that doesn't get its electricity from natural gas, your electricity bill is still going to be lower because of the resources that we have, because of the abundance of natural gas.
We're talking about cheap energy because of the volume that we're talking about, unprecedented reserves that exceed the oil under Saudi Arabia, as the gentleman was discussing earlier. The ability of the United States to store natural gas has improved dramatically over the years.
So now we're in position where we can produce the gas, we can use it domestically to bring down the cost of electricity, we can store it, and we're going to export some of this gas as well. The market for natural gas around the world is increasing because of the Marcellus shale find in Pennsylvania and in New York and West Virginia and Virginia, Ohio. This is really a wonderful thing for this country.
And the total U.S. natural gas production in 2010 just last year was at its highest level ever. In 2010, the natural gas production in this country was at its highest level ever compared to oil consumption, which, since 2005, has dropped more than 5 percent, and natural gas use has risen 10 percent in that time. Of course, that's preceding the big find with the Marcellus shale. So we're only going to see that grow and thrive.
So we're keeping energy prices low. We're making ourselves energy independent, which is critical. There's a national security issue to that. There's an economic and a jobs issue which we're seeing in Pennsylvania firsthand. And of course there's an energy issue to that, how we're going to continue to grow our energy resources.
So I congratulate the gentleman for leading the discussion tonight, and I look forward to continuing not just tonight but beyond because this has to be part of our energy future in this country. And it was the cover of ``Time'' magazine. So when you think about the Nation paying attention, the spotlight being on our region of the country, it truly is because this is something that's going to benefit everybody in this country.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Mr. ALTMIRE. I was going to actually segue into that exact point, because I know the gentleman from New York was going to talk about the process. And it's important to keep in mind there, of course, are always going to be concerns with doing the drilling as safely as possible, limiting any impact on the drinking water. And I know we are going to talk about the process.
Consider the fact that we're talking about drilling that has been done for decades safely, thousands and thousands of wells drilled in this process without any repercussions, any negative impact all across the country, and now beginning in the Marcellus shale area. We are talking about a water table, the drinking water at approximately 500 feet. The drilling takes place a mile below that, 5,000, 6,000 feet below the water table. It has been proven in the decades and decades and thousands and thousands of wells that have been drilled that if you do it correctly, if the company is diligent, if they follow the proper procedures, they can do it without harm. It's been proven.
Now, yes, as happens in any industry, energy or otherwise, if you have bad actors and you have people that don't follow the right procedures, that cut corners, then the potential would exist for a bad outcome. But that happens in any business, in any industry. So we do need to make sure that the drillers, and by and large they have shown the ability do this safely, continue to do that and pay attention to the rules and the regulations. But we can't in any way put a burden upon the drillers that exceeds the risk factor.
We need to make sure that we are cultivating the resources, we are doing it in the appropriate and proven safe way as we have done for decades. I turn it over to the gentleman from New York.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
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