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Offshore Drilling

Actual Gulf of Mexico Production Doesn’t Match Secretary Salazar’s Rosy Outlook

| Posted in Press Release

At today’s House Natural Resources Committee hearing on the Department of the Interior’s Fiscal Year 2012 Budget proposal, Rep. John Fleming asked Interior Secretary Ken Salazar about the Department’s refusal to issue new offshore drilling permits. Secretary Salazar responded, “When you look at the production within the Gulf of Mexico, even within the midst of the national crisis of the…

Hastings Statement on Approval of First Deepwater Drilling Permit

| Posted in Press Release

House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Doc Hastings (WA-04) released the following statement after the Interior Department announced the approval of Noble Energy’s deepwater drilling permit: “Over four months after the deepwater drilling moratorium was officially lifted in the Gulf of Mexico, the Administration is finally issuing the first permit. While this is good news, today’s…

Chairman Hastings on Strategic Petroleum Reserve Proposal: Our Real Reserves Are in the Gulf, Alaska, OCS and Public Lands

| Posted in Press Release

House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Doc Hastings (WA-04) released the following statement after House Democrats asked President Obama to release portions of the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR): “Americans are feeling the pain at the pump as gasoline prices climb towards four dollars a gallon. Tapping the SPR may provide some temporary relief but we must consider America’s…

Study Reinforces Need for American Energy Development

| Posted in Blog

As America’s dependence on foreign oil is highlighted by increased gasoline prices due to political unrest in North Africa and the Middle East, a newly released study confirms what Natural Resources Republicans have been telling President Obama for two years: Increased American energy production creates jobs, increases American energy security and helps reduce our national…

Wall Street Journal Editorial: An Illegal Drilling Ban

| Posted in In Case You Missed It

An Illegal Drilling Ban Does Ken Salazar think he's above the law? February 24, 2011 Wall Street Journal Editorial Remember the BP oil spill and its aftermath? Folks remember it on the Gulf Coast, where late last week a federal judge ruled that the Obama Administration is imposing a de facto ban on deep water drilling that is "unreasonable, unacceptable, and unjustified." Federal…

Reps. Hastings and Lamborn Send Letter Announcing Upcoming Hearings on de facto Moratorium

| Posted in Blog

Chairman Doc Hastings and Energy and Minerals Subcommittee Chairman Doug Lamborn sent the following letter to Gulf State Committee Members today notifying them of the Committee’s intention to hold upcoming hearings on the President’s de facto drilling moratorium and the slow-walking of permits. The letter specifically highlights the following new upcoming Committee activities: …

Reps. Hastings and Lamborn Letter to Gulf State Members Announcing Upcoming Hearings on de facto Moratorium

| Posted in Letters

Dear Gulf State Committee Member, In discussing the work of the Natural Resources Committee, we've heard directly from you, and other Members of Congress from the Gulf region, who are concerned over the Obama Administration's refusal to issue new shallow and deep water drilling permits in a timely, efficient manner. Indeed, the Department of the Interior has even been held in contempt by…

Unrest in Libya Could Spread to Other OPEC Members, Lead to Record Prices at the Pump

| Posted in Resourceful Information

*Source: Energy Information Administration Political turmoil in the Middle East, most recently in Egypt and Libya, is putting the United States’ already tenuous energy security on more fragile ground. The recent waves of political uprisings in Northern Africa and the Middle East have sparked concern of lost crude oil production, which in turn could cause U.S. gasoline prices to spike.…

Federal Court Orders Obama Administration to Act on Stalled Deepwater Drilling Permits

| Posted in Press Release

Today, the Obama Administration’s de facto drilling moratorium in the Gulf of Mexico was once again struck down in Federal Court. U.S. District Judge Martin Feldman granted a preliminary injunction requiring that the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement (BOEMRE) act within 30 days on five pending permit applications from Ensco. “The court has now clearly found…

Chairman Hastings' Op-Ed in The Hill: Regulations stifle drilling, push gas prices up at pump

| Posted in Op-Eds and Speeches

Regulations stifle drilling, push gas prices up at pump February 15, 2011 The Hill Rep. Doc Hastings, Chairman House Natural Resources Committee Americans across the country are facing rising gasoline prices that are squeezing families’ monthly budgets and businesses’ ability to prosper and create jobs. There’s a growing anxiety that, like the summer of 2008, prices will once again…