I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1918 

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 

APRIL 2, 2009 

Mr. FLAKE (for himself and Mr. MORAN of Kansas) 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 2009’’. 


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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; 

19 (2) export without license authority all equip20 ment necessary for the exploration for or extraction 

21 of hydrocarbon resources described in paragraph (1); 

22 and 

23 (3) import into the United States hydrocarbon 

24 resources described in paragraph (1) (including 

25 products thereof) extracted under the authority of 

26 this section. 


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

2 States person’’ means— 

3 (1) any United States citizen or alien lawfully 

4 admitted for permanent residence in the United 

5 States; and 

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

7 individual described in paragraph (1) owns or con8 trols at least 51 percent of the securities or other 

9 equity interest in such person. 

10 SEC. 4. TRAVEL IN CONNECTION WITH AUTHORIZED HY11 DROCARBON EXPLORATION AND EXTRAC12 TION ACTIVITIES. 

13 Section 910 of the Trade Sanctions Reform and Ex14 port Enhancement Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 7209) is 

15 amended by adding at the end the following the following 

16 new subsection: 

17 ‘‘(c) GENERAL LICENSE AUTHORITY FOR TRAVEL18 RELATED EXPENDITURES BY PERSONS ENGAGING IN

19 HYDROCARBON EXPLORATION AND EXTRACTION ACTIVI20 TIES.— 

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

22 Treasury shall authorize under a general license the 

23 travel-related transactions listed in section 

24 515.560(c) of title 31, Code of Federal Regulations, 

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


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1 with exploration for, and the extraction of, hydro2 carbon resources in any part of a foreign maritime 

3 exclusive economic zone that is contiguous to the 

4 United States exclusive economic zone. 

5 ‘‘(2) PERSONS AUTHORIZED.—Persons author6 ized to travel to Cuba under this section include full7 time employees, executives, agents, and consultants 

8 of oil and gas producers, distributors, and ship9 pers.’’. 

Æ 


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