Help Support Affordable Energy - Allow Offshore Access

At a time when high energy prices are hurting the U.S. economy, it is more important than ever that national energy policy allow access to our offshore energy supplies.

Faced with record energy prices, unprecedented reliance on imports and overwhelming public support for offshore development, Congress and the Administration removed the restrictions on oil & gas development in the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) earlier this year. Despite more than 40 years of safe and efficient development in the Gulf of Mexico and elsewhere and the desperate need to expand our domestic energy resources, it is likely that several members of Congress, as well as officials within the Obama Administration, will attempt to re-implement bans on offshore development as soon as possible in 2009

It is imperative that we show our strong support of a balanced energy policy that includes access to domestic oil and gas resources. Without access to offshore oil & gas resources, it is very likely energy prices could rapidly increase due to a return to tight long-term supplies and the market impact long-term speculators have when U.S. policies show little regard for global energy realities.

Since federal offshore waters in the OCS hold the greatest potential for finding and bringing new energy resources to market over the next several decades, allowing access to these offshore resources as part of a comprehensive energy strategy would significantly reduce U.S. reliance on imports, improve domestic energy security, diversify supply, increase economic development, and generate local, state and federal revenue.

The U.S. Minerals Management Service estimates that there are currently 86 billion barrels of oil and 420 trillion cubic feet of natural gas that are technically recoverable from all federal offshore areas in the OCS. Our energy future clearly lies in the safe and effective production of offshore oil and natural gas resources.

OCS Fact Sheet

According to information derived from the Minerals Management Service allowing expanded access to deep offshore Federal waters will:

Helps Create Jobs:

• More than 45,000 people are directly employed by offshore operations; with more than 1.5 million people employed by the domestic oil and gas industry. There are about 4,000 OCS production facilities and 33,000 miles of pipelines.
• The Gulf of Mexico deep offshore waters have been producing oil and natural gas since the 1950s.
• In 2003, the Gulf of Mexico offshore waters contributed 29 percent of the oil produced in the US and 22 percent of domestic natural gas production.
• The 1.5 million barrels per day of oil from Central and Western Gulf of Mexico waters is equivalent to our imports from Saudi Arabia.
• The 4.4 trillion cubic feet produced annually from Central and Western Gulf of Mexico waters is enough natural gas to meet more than 80 percent of the electric industry's consumption of natural gas.
• The Minerals Management Service (MMS) has called deepwater oil and natural gas development in the Gulf of Mexico "a workhorse for U.S. domestic oil and gas production." According to MMS, offshore deepwater oil production rose 535% between 1995 and 2002 and deepwater natural gas production rose 620% over those same years.

Provides Greater Domestic Energy Security

• Almost 90 percent of the deep offshore acreage off the lower 48 states is "off limits" to energy development.
• The undiscovered resources in federal water is estimated at 420 trillion cubic feet of natural gas and almost 86 billion barrels of oil. For perspective, that is equivalent to three times the oil resources of Canada and Mexico combined and almost 6 times the natural gas resources of these two countries.
• According to conservative estimates from MMS there are about 288 trillion cubic feet of natural gas and 59 billion barrels of oil yet to be discovered on the OCS off the lower 48 states (NOT including Alaska).
• This is enough oil to maintain current oil production for 105 years and current natural gas production for 71 years.
• That is enough oil to produce gasoline for 132 million cars and heating oil for 54 million homes for 15 years.
• That is enough natural gas to heat 72 million homes for 60 years, OR to supply current industrial and commercial needs for 28 years OR to supply current electricity generating needs for 53 years.
• And, that is before the Alaska OCS is considered with additional resources of 132 trillion cubic feet of natural gas and over 26 billion barrels of oil.

Your Help is Needed

In order to protect responsible, environmentally-sensitive access to our offshore energy resources, we must urge the new Administration and Congress to keep offshore access as part of our domestic energy policy. They need to hear from you regarding the benefits of oil & gas access as part of a comprehensive plan.

Please support this effort by sending comments to the new Congress and new Administration. It is quick and easy to send in your comments. CEA has drafted a sample letter that you may use or amend as you choose. Please click here to view the letter and let Washington know you support reasonable access to America's offshore energy resources and oppose any efforts to limit it.