22-06-04
The US White House June 17 passed on a 334-86 vote a spending bill that
largely keeps federal oil and natural gas research funding intact for the
upcoming fiscal year slated to start Oct. 1.
Overall, the 2005 Interior Appropriations bill carries a $ 19.5 bn price tag. It
funds the budget of the US Department of the Interior, including several federal
agencies of critical importance to companies that drill on federal land and in
federal waters. Annual agency budgets of interest to producers include the
Bureau of Land Management, the Minerals Management Service, and the US
Geological Service. The bill also funds fossil fuel research under the
Department of Energy. The White House this year, like during the past 3 years,
wants Congress to cut back federal oil and gas research, but legislators always
restore funding back to historical levels.
The US Senate has not yet considered the spending proposal, one of 13 annual
bills Congress is supposed to pass to fund the government's budget. But the
appropriations process is off to an especially slow start; the contracted
legislative calendar coupled with election-year politics may mean spending
levels aren't formalized till after the November congressional and presidential
elections.
Before the final floor vote, President George W. Bush won a legislative victory
when lawmakers rejected a proposal to sell oil from the Strategic Petroleum
Reserve. House members however again rejected calls by the Bush administration
to reduce DOE's oil and gas research budget in FY 2005.
The House bill earmarks $ 35 mm for oil technology research-the same level
the program is slated to get for FY 2004. The White House requested $ 20 mm less
for FY 2005. Similarly for gas research, the House bill includes $ 42 mm, $ 1 mm
less than FY 2004 spending levels, but $ 16 mm more than what the White House
wants to see. The White House's Office of Management and Budget June 16 sharply
criticized past DOE oil and gas research programs, indicating that the way
Congress wants to see the programs funded are a waste of money.
OMB said that, the "programs do not clearly link annual activities and
products to long-term benefits, had generally poor performance and results, and
often duplicated industry work. The President's request refocuses these programs
on long-term, high-risk research and we urge the House to adopt this
approach."
Source: Oil & Gas Journal