Senate Passes Natural Gas Legislation

Published: August 27, 2006, By pffc-online.com

PRESS RELEASE

The United States Senate today passed S. 3711, the Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act, which opens leasing in 8.3 million acres of the Eastern Gulf of Mexico to environmentally safe natural gas exploration that potentially could make 5.83 trillion cubic feet of natural gas available. Sponsored by Senator Pete Domenici (R-NM), the bill would include a 125-mile buffer off the coast of Florida in the Gulf of Mexico. Fifty percent of lease sale revenues would go to the General Treasury; 37.5% would go to coastal protection of Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas; and 12.5% percent would go to the stateside Land and Water Conservation fund.

William R. Carteaux, president and CEO of The Society of the Plastics Industry (SPI), says, "I applaud the U.S. Senate for taking a major step forward to alleviate the energy crunch that has severely impacted America's consumers and manufacturers. While it is not all that the U.S. plastics industry had hoped for, the Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act will increase access to natural gas resources and offer a short-term solution to the supply-demand imbalance that has resulted in skyrocketing natural gas prices."