Government Energy Policy, Business and Technology

US House oil and gas reform idea uses carrot-stick approach

Oil & Gas Journal: US House Natural Resource Committee Republicans presented a fifth proposal at a June 14 hearing to change federal oil and gas policies that ostensibly would increase states’ involvement in federal oil and gas decisions. Democrats on the Energy and Mineral Resources Subcommittee quickly criticized the discussion draft’s plan to reward states that encourage more leasing and development and penalize states that do not.

The idea originated last fall after the US Department of the Interior announced 47 proposed federal offshore lease sales on every part of the US Outer Continental Shelf, Subcommittee Chairman Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.) said. Many coastal governors, municipalities, and congressional delegations vocally opposed the plan, and attempted to pass measures that prohibit or discourage development on the federally owned OCS, Gosar said.

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