On June 12, 2008, Democrat Nick Rahll, Chairman of the House Committee on Natural Resources introduced legislation giving an ultimatum to the oil and gas companies that lease federal lands. The acreage involved is approximately 68 million acres. Rep. Rahll is Democrat from West Virginia.
Ideally, the effect of the legislation is to eventually reduce oil prices. Hopefully, the energy sector won’t find more excuses every time an initiative of this type is launched.
The expectation is that by requiring the leased land to be used for the stated purpose, the total U.S. oil production would about double, and natural gas production would increase by 75%.” That sounds optimistic to me, however, I am not an expert by any means, just and interested and concerned observer of the situation.
A brief Google search did not turn up any similar legislation in the Senate.
From the announcement:
Washington, D.C. - In an effort to compel oil and gas companies to produce on the 68 million acres of federal lands, both onshore and offshore, that are leased but sitting idle, House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Nick J. Rahall (D-WV) today introduced legislation that gives Big Oil one option - either "use it or lose it."
The Responsible Federal Oil and Gas Lease Act of 2008 (H.R. 6251) is a direct response to the facts outlined in the recent House Natural Resources Committee Majority Staff report, "The Truth About America's Energy: Big Oil Stockpiles Supplies and Pockets Profits", that illustrate how energy companies are not using the federal lands and waters that are already open to drilling.
Here is the link to the announcement from the Committee on Natural Resources site:
http://resourcescommittee.house.gov/...
Credit to BuzzFlash.com; I found the link to this item at http://www.buzzflash.com/
There is a possibility for the leaseholders to give up their leases as an alternative to complying with the terms of the legislation.
There is a fact sheet accompanying the announcement that defines the problems and solutions. Basically, oil and gas leases are treated differently from coal leases, and there is already a stipulation on developing the leased land for the coal companies. The proposed legislation only addresses oil and gas leases, including both land and under water.
Fact sheet: http://resourcescommittee.house.gov/...