Bill Text: FL S1726 | 2010 | Regular Session | Introduced

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Bill Title: Expiration/Removal of Moratoria/Oil/Natural Gas [EPSC]

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)

Status: (Failed) 2010-04-30 - Died in Committee on Environmental Preservation and Conservation [S1726 Detail]

Download: Florida-2010-S1726-Introduced.html

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Florida Senate - 2010                                    SM 1726 
 
By Senator Oelrich 
14-01770-10                                           20101726__ 
1                           Senate Memorial 
2         A memorial to the Congress of the United States, 
3         urging Congress to support the expiration and removal 
4         of moratoria prohibiting exploration and production of 
5         domestic supplies of oil and natural gas in federal 
6         waters surrounding Florida and to include Florida in 
7         revenue sharing resulting from the production of oil 
8         and natural gas in federal waters surrounding Florida. 
9 
10         WHEREAS, across party lines, Florida’s representatives in 
11  Congress have long recognized the dependence of the state’s 
12  tourist and agricultural economies on access to reliable and 
13  affordable petroleum products derived from oil and natural gas, 
14  and 
15         WHEREAS, according to the Department of Revenue, Florida 
16  consumes approximately 26 million gallons of gasoline and diesel 
17  fuel per day and approximately 10 billion gallons of gasoline 
18  and diesel fuel annually, and 
19         WHEREAS, the Public Service Commission expects Florida to 
20  increase total utility generation capacity derived from natural 
21  gas from 30 percent in 2005 to over 44 percent in 2014 to meet 
22  increasing electricity demand in the state, and 
23         WHEREAS, Florida’s industries, including fertilizer, 
24  agrochemical, plastic, manufacturing, bakeries, juice and food 
25  processing, pulp and paper, road construction, metals, 
26  restaurants, hotels, grocery stores, and research institutions, 
27  among many others, are heavily dependent on access to reliable 
28  and affordable natural gas, and 
29         WHEREAS, the United States has recently experienced record 
30  high prices for gasoline, diesel fuel, and natural gas, and 
31         WHEREAS, the Energy Information Administration reports that 
32  global demand for oil has risen from 77 million barrels per day 
33  in 2001 to 85 million barrels per day in 2007, and 
34         WHEREAS, the Energy Information Administration predicts 
35  that global demand for energy will increase 44 percent by 2030, 
36  requiring an additional 16 million barrels of oil per day and a 
37  46-percent increase in the production of natural gas, and 
38         WHEREAS, according to the Energy Information 
39  Administration, the United States produces just 43 percent of 
40  the oil its citizens and residents consume and consumes 25 
41  percent of the oil produced globally, and 
42         WHEREAS, the United States Department of the Interior 
43  conservatively estimates that around 116 billion barrels of oil, 
44  enough to power 65 million cars for 60 years, and around 651 
45  trillion cubic feet of natural gas, enough to power 60 million 
46  homes for 160 years, is recoverable from domestic sources, and 
47         WHEREAS, the United States Department of the Interior 
48  conservatively estimates that around 233 trillion cubic feet of 
49  natural gas is recoverable from federal waters in the Gulf of 
50  Mexico, and 
51         WHEREAS, development and production plans filed with the 
52  United States Department of the Interior in 1997 confirm 
53  potential resources for the daily production of up to 450 
54  million cubic feet of natural gas in a small portion of the 
55  Eastern Gulf of Mexico off the Florida Panhandle known as Destin 
56  Dome, and 
57         WHEREAS, technological advances and environmental 
58  partnerships have enabled the energy industry to achieve new 
59  levels of safety and ecological protection while producing oil 
60  and natural gas in federal waters, and 
61         WHEREAS, domestically, the Outer Continental Shelf produces 
62  1 million barrels of oil per day, and, according to the National 
63  Academy of Sciences, since 1980 less than 0.001 percent has 
64  slipped into the sea, which is less than the amount of naturally 
65  occurring oceanic seepage, and 
66         WHEREAS, Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, which in 2005 
67  battered the Gulf of Mexico and nearly 3,000 oil platforms 
68  directly in their paths with major hurricane force winds and 
69  100-foot seas, caused no loss of life among offshore energy 
70  industry personnel or significant spills from offshore oil wells 
71  on the Outer Continental Shelf, according to the United States 
72  Department of the Interior, and 
73         WHEREAS, in 2008, Hurricanes Ike and Gustav followed very 
74  similar paths to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita and caused far less 
75  damage, attesting to the progress made by the industry in 
76  implementing enhanced oil platform and infrastructure standards, 
77  and 
78         WHEREAS, Florida continues to have a successful history of 
79  oil and natural gas production in environmentally sensitive 
80  areas such as the Everglades dating back to 1943, and 
81         WHEREAS, according to the Department of Environmental 
82  Protection, Florida oil and natural gas fields have produced 
83  more than 548 million barrels of oil and more than 630 million 
84  cubic feet of natural gas since 1943, and 
85         WHEREAS, in exchange for a 125-mile drilling buffer in the 
86  Gulf of Mexico, Florida declined to participate in the 2006 Gulf 
87  of Mexico Energy Security Act that provides 37.5 percent of all 
88  federal oil and natural gas revenues, including lease sales and 
89  production royalties, to Gulf Coast states, and 
90         WHEREAS, the initial Eastern Gulf of Mexico Sale 224 in the 
91  2006 Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act generated in excess of 
92  $64 million, 37.5 percent of which went directly to Texas, 
93  Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama, and 
94         WHEREAS, revenue sharing prescribed in the 2006 Gulf of 
95  Mexico Energy Security Act will extend to all new production in 
96  the Gulf of Mexico in 2017, and, as a result, Louisiana 
97  estimates it will generate more than $650 million per year, and 
98         WHEREAS, without a change in policy, Florida will continue 
99  to be excluded from sharing additional revenues and royalties 
100  related to lease sales and production royalties associated with 
101  the development of oil and natural gas resources in the Gulf of 
102  Mexico, NOW, THEREFORE, 
103 
104  Be It Resolved by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 
105 
106         That the Congress of the United States is urged to support 
107  the expiration and removal of moratoria prohibiting exploration 
108  and production of domestic supplies of oil and natural gas in 
109  federal waters surrounding Florida and to include Florida in 
110  revenue sharing resulting from the production of oil and natural 
111  gas in federal waters surrounding Florida. 
112         BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be 
113  dispatched to the President of the United States, to the 
114  President of the United States Senate, to the Speaker of the 
115  United States House of Representatives, and to each member of 
116  the Florida delegation to the United States Congress.