I 

112TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4135 

To permit United States companies 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. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 5, 2012 

Mr. FLAKE introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Foreign Affairs 

A BILL 

To permit United States companies 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. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Western Hemisphere 

5 Energy Security Act of 2012’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. PURPOSE. 

2 The purpose of this Act is to permit United States 

3 companies to participate in the exploration for and the ex4 traction of hydrocarbon resources from any portion of a 

5 foreign maritime exclusive economic zone that is contig6 uous to the exclusive economic zone of the United States. 

7 SEC. 3. AUTHORIZATION OF ACTIVITIES AND EXPORTS IN8 VOLVING HYDROCARBON RESOURCES BY 

9 UNITED STATES COMPANIES. 

10 (a) AUTHORIZATION.—Notwithstanding any other 

11 provision of law (including a regulation), United States 

12 persons (including agents and affiliates of such persons) 

13 may— 

14 (1) engage in any transaction necessary for the 

15 exploration for and extraction of hydrocarbon re16 sources from any portion of any foreign exclusive 

17 economic zone that is contiguous to the exclusive 

18 economic zone of the United States, or for oil spill 

19 prevention and clean-up activities in such a portion 

20 of any foreign exclusive economic zone; 

21 (2) export without license authority all equip22 ment necessary for the exploration for or extraction 

23 of hydrocarbon resources, or oil spill prevention and 

24 clean-up activities, described in paragraph (1); and 

25 (3) import into the United States hydrocarbon 

26 resources described in paragraph (1) (including 


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1 products thereof) extracted under the authority of 

2 this section. 

3 (b) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘‘United 

4 States person’’ means— 

5 (1) any United States citizen or alien lawfully 

6 admitted for permanent residence in the United 

7 States; and 

8 (2) any person other than an individual, if an 

9 individual described in paragraph (1) owns or con10 trols at least 51 percent of the securities or other 

11 equity interest in such person. 

12 SEC. 4. TRAVEL IN CONNECTION WITH AUTHORIZED HY13 DROCARBON EXPLORATION AND EXTRAC14 TION ACTIVITIES. 

15 Section 910 of the Trade Sanctions Reform and Ex16 port Enhancement Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 7209) is 

17 amended by adding at the end the following the following 

18 new subsection: 

19 ‘‘(c) GENERAL LICENSE AUTHORITY FOR TRAVEL20 RELATED EXPENDITURES BY PERSONS ENGAGING IN

21 HYDROCARBON EXPLORATION AND EXTRACTION ACTIVI22 TIES.— 

23 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of the 

24 Treasury shall authorize under a general license the 

25 travel-related transactions listed in section 


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1 515.560(c) of title 31, Code of Federal Regulations, 

2 for travel to, from, or within Cuba in connection 

3 with— 

4 ‘‘(A) exploration for, and the extraction of, 

5 hydrocarbon resources in any part of a foreign 

6 maritime exclusive economic zone that is contig7 uous to the United States exclusive economic 

8 zone; or 

9 ‘‘(B) oil spill prevention and clean-up ac10 tivities in such a part of a foreign maritime ex11 clusive economic zone. 

12 ‘‘(2) PERSONS AUTHORIZED.—Persons author13 ized to travel to Cuba under this section include— 

14 ‘‘(A) full-time employees, executives, 

15 agents, and consultants of oil and gas pro16 ducers, distributors, and shippers; and 

17 ‘‘(B) persons who engage in oil spill pre18 vention and clean-up activities.’’. 

Æ 


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