Washington (Platts)--19Jun2007

Democratic and Republican leaders in the US Senate reached an agreement
late Monday to vote on five controversial amendments to the major energy bill
that they began debating early last week. 

     But it remained unclear Tuesday whether the deal on the amendments would
pave the way to a final vote on the underlying bill, which could be derailed
by any number of other issues that lawmakers have yet to consider. 

     The agreement reached Monday calls for the Senate to debate and vote on
five amendments before adjourning Tuesday. Two of these are rival Democratic
and Republican measures that would both promote coal-to-liquids transportation
fuels in different ways. 

     The Democratic amendment, sponsored by Senator John Tester of Montana,
would provide loans and other incentives to companies that build CTL plants
capable of capturing and sequestering the bulk of their carbon dioxide
emissions. The sequestration aspect is critical, Democrats say, so that CTL
does not exacerbate global warming.

     The Republican CTL amendment, sponsored by Senator Jim Bunning of
Kentucky, would require the US to manufacture and use at least 6 billion
gallons of CTL transportation fuel between 2016 and 2022. Under the Republican
plan, the CO2 emissions from burning this fuel would have to be 20% lower than
conventional gasoline. But the Republican amendment would not require CTL
plants to sequester their CO2 emissions, because Republican lawmakers say the
necessary technology has not yet been fully developed. The Senate will vote on
the two CTL amendments at about 3:15 pm EDT, Democratic and Republican
officials said. 

     The Senate will also vote Tuesday on a Democratic-backed "NOPEC"
amendment, which would allow US citizens to sue OPEC countries in US courts
for alleged collusive practices in setting oil prices. President Bush has
vowed to veto any bill that comes to his desk with such a provision, saying it
could lead to supply shortages and gasoline lines that were common in the
1970s. 

     The Senate will also consider a Republican amendment Tuesday on electric
transmission corridors, and a Democratic measure on siting liquefied natural
gas terminals.

     These votes are expected to occur about 5:30 pm, officials said. The
underlying bill would raise motor vehicle fuel economy standards to 35 miles
per gallon by 2020, and impose stricter penalties for "price gouging" at the
gasoline pump, among other things. If the bill is not finished this week, it
could be months before it returns to the Senate floor, Senate leaders have
said.

		--Brian Hansen, brian_hansen@platts.com