New US congressman sees public outcry over higher gasoline prices
Washington (Platts)--10Jan2011/634 am EST/1134 GMT
Higher prices for gasoline are likely to prompt Americans to demand
that the federal government provide more access to oil and natural gas
reserves onshore and offshore, a former oil industry executive and new
member of Congress said Sunday.
Representative Bill Flores, a Republican from central Texas, compared
the situation today, with unusually high gasoline prices, with that in
2008 when US gasoline prices hit $4/gallon in some areas and public
outcries persuaded Congress and the Bush administration to drop
government restrictions on offshore drilling.
"You saw a public outcry for improved accessibility to oil and gas
properties," Flores said on the TV news program Platts Energy Week. "The
theme was, 'Drill here, drill now ... .' I think now that we're seeing
higher prices, the American public is going to say we've had enough of
the silliness regarding regulatory slow-downs and removing public areas
from access."
Flores retired as CEO of Phoenix Exploration, a Houston-based oil and
gas company, in 2009 to run for Congress. He has 30 years of experience
in the industry.
The average retail price for a gallon of gasoline in the US increased
for the fifth straight week, advancing nearly 2 cents to $3.07, the US
Energy Information Administration said in a January 5 report. That is 41
cents higher than last year at the same time.
As a member of the House Natural Resources Committee, Flores will have a
say in how the Republican-led House treats Obama administration policies
affecting industry access to oil and gas on federal lands and in
offshore waters.
The administration was planning to invite consideration of drilling in
areas off the Atlantic and Alaska coasts where development was banned
until 2008, until BP's Macondo well exploded in the Gulf of Mexico in
April 2010, killing 11 workers and resulting in the biggest oil spill in
US history.
Flores, like many of his Republican colleagues, and even some Democrats,
believe the administration overreacted to the incident with reviews and
new regulations that have stalled new drilling in the gulf.
"If you look at the history of the oil and gas business for the last 30
years, prior to Macondo, we had no serious spills," he said. "That goes
to safety, the ability of the industry to operate in a safe manner. The
Macondo incident was very unfortunate. I wish it hadn't happened. But
hopefully we can learn from it and go on."
Platts Energy Week airs at 8:00 am Eastern time on Sundays on W*USA 9 in
Washington, and at 7:30 pm Central time on Mondays on KHOU 11.2 (Comcast
310) in Houston. The program is also available on the web at
www.plattsenergyweektv.com.
--Bill Loveless,
bill_loveless@platts.com
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