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To: X Y Zebra who wrote (7520)	11/19/2000 8:53:46 PM
From: X Y Zebra	Respond to of 10876

Why Access to Government Lands is Crucial America either produces more crude oil or it imports it; to produce more oil, it must have greater access to government lands Today, we import some 55 percent of our crude oil, meaning that we are at the mercy of foreign oil producing countries. The current price situation has much to do with the cutback in production by those countries. It does not have to be this way. U.S. oil is in plentiful supply and our companies can continue to deliver the energy needed to meet America’s needs -- but they cannot draw upon our vast reserves unless greater access is provided to government lands for responsible exploration and development. Background Many of these areas have been placed off-limits by the federal government. Since 1983, access to federal lands in the western United States -- where 67 percent of our onshore oil reserves and 40 percent of our natural gas reserves are located -- has declined by 60 percent. Our search for new domestic offshore oil and natural gas is limited to portions of the Gulf of Mexico and Alaskan waters because of the congressional moratoria that have placed off-limits most of the rest of our coastal waters. Onshore, the President has used his executive powers to limit oil and gas activity on vast regions of government lands. Congress has refused to authorize exploration on that small section of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge that was specifically set aside by law for possible exploration in 1980. More recently, the U.S. Forest Service moved to make it more difficult for our companies to explore for natural gas and oil on government lands when it announced a plan to bar road building in 43 million acres in the forest system. The Outer Continental Shelf The offshore has assumed increasing importance in U.S. energy supply over the past half century. The federal portion of the Outer Continental Shelf now supplies 18% of the oil and 27% of the gas produced in the U.S. Offshore production promises to play an even more significant role in the future. DOE forecasts that offshore production will rise to nearly a third of domestic oil and gas supply within a decade. In recent years, exploration and development of the offshore has been a major factor in stabilizing domestic supply. From 1993 to 1997, new reserves replaced over 147% of offshore oil produced, and over 106% of gas produced. In 1997 alone, the Gulf of Mexico accounted for over 79% of the new field discoveries of oil in the U.S. <snip> Onshore Federal Lands A 1997 study by the Cooperating Associations Forum found that federal lease acreage available for oil and gas exploration and production in eight western states (California, Colorado, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Utah and Wyoming) has decreased by more than 60 percent since 1983. Approximately 205 million acres of federal lands in these states are under the control of two federal agencies with broad discretionary powers: the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), whose land management planning authority is derived from the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976; and the U.S. Forest Service (FS) whose jurisdiction is derived from the National Forest Management Act. Both agencies are required to manage lands they administer under the congressionally mandated concept of multiple use. BLM and U.S. Forest Service discretionary actions including withdrawal of federal lands from leasing, unjustified use of delays in leasing decisions and project permitting increasingly and adversely affect onshore oil and gas leasing and exploration and production. <snip> more.... api.org Conspiracy theory 101: Instead of "foreign aid" given to other countries, Maybe the US government restricts the exploration of oil in US soil, forcing the USA to import 55 % of the oil consumed domestically... Now, If the above changes... 1. Would there be more economic activity in the USA ? 2. If so... What would be the impact on inflation and on oil prices, domestically and internationally? 3. What would this do to the US Dollar ? 4. ditto to the US stock Market? 5. ditto to the economies of the countries where oil used to be imported before (see table in prior post). _____ Hmmmm Uncle Sam : "Me Tarzan, you [the rest of the world] Jane