A bill to permit United States persons to participate in the exploration for and the extraction of hydrocarbon resources from any portion of a foreign maritime exclusive economic zone that is contiguous to the exclusive economic zone of the United States, and for other purposes.

Summary: Western Hemisphere Energy Security Act of 2006 - Authorizes U.S. persons to: (1) explore and extract hydrocarbon resources from any portion of the foreign exclusive economic zone that is contiguous to the U.S. exclusive economic zone; and (2) export without license authority all equipment necessary for the exploration for or extraction of hydrocarbon resources.

Amends the Trade Sanctions Reform and Export Enhancement Act of 2000 to authorize the Secretary of the Treasury to allow under a general license employees of oil and gas producers, distributors, and shippers to travel to, from, or within Cuba to explore for and extract hydrocarbon resources from such zone.

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Western Hemisphere Energy Security 
Act of 2006''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    (a) Findings.--Congress finds that--
            (1) the United States is the largest oil importer in the 
        world;
            (2) the Federal Government predicts that, by 2025, 68 
        percent of the oil used in the United States will be imported;
            (3) \2/3\ of the oil reserves of the world are located in 
        the politically unstable Middle East and are controlled by 
        members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries;
            (4) global fuel consumption is projected to increase by 100 
        percent to 150 percent during the next 20 years, driven largely 
        by the Chinese and Indian economies;
            (5) that increased demand for fuel--
                    (A) will place the United States in ever-greater 
                competition for oil and gas resources; and
                    (B) may result in an extension of Chinese 
                involvement in developing Cuban oil and gas reserves to 
                within a few miles of the coastline of the United 
                States;
            (6) the United States adheres to the principle that, in a 
        case in which the exclusive economic zone of the United States 
        is contiguous to the exclusive economic zone of another 
        country, a point equidistant to the maritime baselines of the 2 
        countries demarcates the exclusive economic zone of each;
            (7) an example of the application of the principle 
        described in paragraph (6) is that the exclusive economic zone 
        of Cuba extends to within--
                    (A) 52 miles of the Florida Keys at--
                            (i) south of 24 degrees north latitude; and
                            (ii) east of -81 degrees west longitude; 
                        and
                    (B) 85.4 miles of the Florida peninsula at--
                            (i) south of 24 degrees north latitude; and
                            (ii) east of -81 degrees west longitude;
            (8) Cubapetroleo, the state oil company of Cuba, recently--
                    (A) signed an oil production sharing agreement with 
                the China Petroleum and Chemical Corporation; and
                    (B) purchased 3 deep-water drilling rigs from that 
                Chinese state enterprise for use in the exclusive 
                economic zone of Cuba;
            (9) the exclusive economic zone of Cuba in the Gulf of 
        Mexico is a 112,000-square-kilometer area that has been divided 
        into 59 exploration blocks, each of which is approximately 
        2,000 square kilometers and an average depth of 2,000 meters 
        (except that some of those blocks have a depth of as great as 
        4,000 meters);
            (10) the northernmost of the exploration blocks described 
        in paragraph (9) are located off the southwest coast of the 
        State of Florida;
            (11) a United States Geological Survey report entitled 
        ``Assessment of Undiscovered Oil and Gas Resources of the North 
        Cuba Basin 2004'' estimated that between 1,000,000,000 and 
        9,300,000,000 barrels of undiscovered oil and between 
        1,900,000,000,000 and 22,000,000,000,000 cubic feet of 
        undiscovered natural gas along the northern coast of Cuba;
            (12) the national security strategy of the President 
        recognizes the increasing resource needs of China by stating 
        that China is ``expanding trade, but acting as if they can 
        somehow lock up energy supplies around the world or seek to 
        direct markets rather than opening them up.'';
            (13) the United States embargo on Cuba prohibits United 
        States persons from engaging in the exploration or extraction 
        of hydrocarbon resources from the exclusive economic zone of 
        Cuba;
            (14) United States oil and gas industries are the world's 
        leaders in the efficient and environmentally-safe extraction of 
        oil and gas resources from marine deposits; and
            (15) it is in the energy, national security, and 
        environmental interests of the United States that the oil and 
        gas companies of the United States be permitted to operate in 
        the foreign exclusive economic zones that is contiguous to the 
        exclusive economic zone of the United States.
    (b) Purpose.--The purpose of this Act is to permit United States 
persons to participate in the exploration for and the extraction of 
hydrocarbon resources from any portion of a foreign maritime exclusive 
economic zone that is contiguous to the exclusive economic zone of the 
United States.

SEC. 3. DEFINITION OF UNITED STATES PERSON.

    In this Act, the term ``United States person'' means--
            (1) any United States citizen or alien lawfully admitted 
        for permanent residence in the United States; and
            (2) any person other than an individual, if 1 or more 
        individuals described in paragraph (1) own or control at least 
        51 percent of the securities or other equity interest in the 
        person.

SEC. 4. AUTHORIZATION OF ACTIVITIES AND EXPORTS INVOLVING HYDROCARBON 
              RESOURCES BY UNITED STATES PERSONS.

    Notwithstanding any other provision of law (including a 
regulation), United States persons (including agents and affiliates of 
those United States persons) may--
            (1) engage in any transaction necessary for the exploration 
        for and extraction of hydrocarbon resources from any portion of 
        any foreign exclusive economic zone that is contiguous to the 
        exclusive economic zone of the United States; and
            (2) export without license authority all equipment 
        necessary for the exploration for or extraction of hydrocarbon 
        resources described in paragraph (1).

SEC. 5. TRAVEL IN CONNECTION WITH AUTHORIZED HYDROCARBON EXPLORATION 
              AND EXTRACTION ACTIVITIES.

    Section 910 of the Trade Sanctions Reform and Export Enhancement 
Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 7209) is amended by inserting after subsection 
(b) the following:
    ``(c) General License Authority for Travel-Related Expenditures by 
Persons Engaging in Hydrocarbon Exploration and Extraction 
Activities.--
            ``(1) In general.--The Secretary of the Treasury shall, 
        authorize under a general license the travel-related 
        transactions listed in section 515.560(c) of title 31, Code of 
        Federal Regulations, for travel to, from or within Cuba in 
        connection with exploration for and the extraction of 
        hydrocarbon resources in any part of a foreign maritime 
        Exclusive Economic Zone that is contiguous to the United 
        States' Exclusive Economic Zone.
            ``(2) Persons authorized.--Persons authorized to travel to 
        Cuba under this section include full-time employees, 
        executives, agents, and consultants of oil and gas producers, 
        distributors, and shippers.''.