Page 23: of Marine News Magazine (December 2017)

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“… due to short-sighted federal policy decisions, only 6% of the OCS is currently accessible to the offshore oil and gas industry; nearly 94% is off limits to oil and gas exploration and production.” tion from the Gulf of Mexico was temporarily curtailed as U.S. may not be as lucky next time if we don’t ensure the a result of Harvey. Several weeks later, Tropical Storm Nate continued development and production of our energy forced even more production to be shut-in, temporarily resources from both inside of and outside of the Gulf of curtailing 92% of oil production and 77% of natural gas Mexico. Not only would exploring and developing new ar- production from the Gulf of Mexico, according to BSEE. eas off our coasts be a victory for American energy and eco-

In addition, because Harvey was such a slow-moving nomic security, it would give us peace of mind next time storm, the ? ooding that followed forced the closure of re- a catastrophic storm plows through the Gulf of Mexico. ? neries along the Texas coast, taking of? ine 25% of the Thankfully, the Trump administration re-opened the nation’s crude oil re? ning capacity. Less than two weeks discussion about how we manage the energy sources off after Harvey, gasoline prices, including those from pumps our coasts and is in the second stage of developing a new thousands of miles away from the Gulf of Mexico, reached and more expansive National 5-Year OCS Oil and Leasing their highest level in two years. Program for 2019-2024 to replace Obama’s 2017-2022

Partly because hurricanes have the potential to strike the program, which took the entire Atlantic OCS and much heart of the U.S. offshore energy industry and temporarily of the Arctic OCS off the table. Decentralizing offshore weaken our nation’s energy security, the National Ocean energy sources will strengthen American energy and eco-

Industries Association (NOIA) has long advocated for in- nomic security by ensuring production of offshore oil and creased access to federal offshore areas outside of the Gulf natural gas continues, even if hurricanes or other natural of Mexico. However, due to short-sighted federal policy disasters cause temporary disruptions from onshore and decisions, only 6% of the OCS is currently accessible to offshore energy producing areas. the offshore oil and gas industry; nearly 94% is off limits Now is the time for big “out of the box” thinking. Never to oil and gas exploration and production. has there been a better time for federal policy makers to craft

The success of the offshore energy industry has made long-term solutions to providing diverse energy sources the U.S. the world’s leader in the production of oil and (both traditional and non-traditional) and energy delivery natural gas. However, Harvey and Nate revealed just how systems to ensure energy consumers are protected. Five year precarious that position is. The lack of new sources of oil leasing programs could become 20 year leasing programs, and natural gas outside of the Gulf of Mexico, and infra- providing long-term certainty to both industry, regarding structure that is centralized along the Gulf Coast led to which areas can be leased, and conservation groups, regard- temporary shut downs in the energy delivery system for ing which areas cannot be leased. This should also include major population areas of the U.S. and a rapid rise of gaso- more pipelines and more re? ning capacity in more areas, line prices at the pump. increasing the areas open for offshore energy exploration

Luckily, the wisdom of those before us provided a mech- and development and protecting the SPR by establishing a anism known as the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) to method of replacing reserves in times of plenty. keep many re? neries running, and President Trump re- Today, oil and natural gas production from the U.S. leased 500,000 barrels of oil from the reserve to ensure Gulf of Mexico, the hub of our offshore energy industry, that there were no severe shortages – this time. Ironically, accounts for 19 percent of domestic oil production and many who are adamantly opposed to oil and natural gas 5 percent of domestic natural gas production, generates development, and who have championed the “keep it in billions of dollars in revenue for state and local govern- the ground” movement, saw the wisdom of the SPR and ments and the U.S. taxpayer, and supports hundreds of joined the calls to bring oil out of the ground to avoid thousands of jobs. With the right government policies, severe supply shocks to the gas pumps and consumers fol- particularly regarding access to offshore areas, industry has lowing Harvey and Nate. the potential to unlock additional sources of energy, create

Simply put, we dodged an energy security bullet during tens of thousands of new jobs and bring in billions of dol- the 2017 hurricane season. By geographically concentrat- lars in new government revenue. We have the know-how ing our nation’s offshore energy production, the U.S. is and technology to ensure weather-ready American energy rolling the dice when it comes to natural disasters. The dominance; we just need the political will.

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