WASHINGTON, D.C. – During
a hearing today on the recent oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, Senator Kay
Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas), Ranking Member of the Senate Commerce, Science, and
Transportation Committee, said that the nation must enhance the safety of offshore
drilling.
“It is critical that everyone involved in the offshore oil
industry learns from this tragedy so that we prevent such accidents in the
future,” said Senator Hutchison. “Naturally,
we are all concerned about the potential environmental and economic impacts
caused by the oil spill and expect that the responsible parties will stand by
their commitments to pay for both the cleanup costs and economic damages. But we cannot be short-sighted. Offshore oil and gas development are vital to
both our current and future economic and national security.”
Senator Hutchison noted that drilling operations in U.S.
waters currently account for about 27 percent of America’s domestic oil
production and 15 percent of the nation’s domestic natural gas production. She said that not only does this generate
billions of dollars in economic activity and thousands of jobs, it
significantly reduces our dependence on foreign oil. According to the Congressional Research
Service (CRS), the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) is rich in natural resources
containing over 85 billion barrels of undiscovered recoverable oil. This represents over half of the nation’s
entire endowment of recoverable oil.
Additionally, the OCS contains 420 of the 1,400 trillion cubic feet of
undiscovered recoverable clean burning natural gas in the United States.
“This oil spill should serve as a catalyst to further safety
enhancements for
offshore drilling, including significant improvements to flow shut off
technologies,” Senator Hutchison said. “Homegrown American energy
translates into jobs, and will enhance both our economic and national
security. These resources help us reduce our reliance on foreign sources
of energy. Development of these resources can mean more revenue for
cities, states and the federal government. Affordable energy is critical
for working Americans, and it is our responsibility to ensure both resource
exploration and development are completed in an environmentally safe manner.”
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You can view Senator Hutchison’s statement here.