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[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 372 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

109th CONGRESS
  2d Session
S. RES. 372

 Expressing the sense of the Senate that oil and gas companies should 
  not be provided outer Continental Shelf royalty relief when energy 
                     prices are at historic highs.

_______________________________________________________________________

                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           February 14, 2006

Mr. Kerry submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the 
               Committee on Energy and Natural Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION

 
 Expressing the sense of the Senate that oil and gas companies should 
  not be provided outer Continental Shelf royalty relief when energy 
                     prices are at historic highs.

Whereas the Federal Government is on the verge of one of the biggest oil and gas 
        giveaways in American history, costing American taxpayers at least 
        $7,000,000,000 in lost revenue over the next 5 years;
Whereas according to the budget plan of the Department of the Interior, it is 
        projected that the Government will allow companies to pump approximately 
        $65,000,000,000 worth of oil and natural gas from Federal territory over 
        the next 5 years without paying any royalties to the Government;
Whereas the Minerals Management Service of the Department of the Interior, which 
        oversees the leases and collects the royalties, estimates that the 
        amount of royalty-free oil will quadruple by 2011, to 112,000,000 
        barrels;
Whereas the volume of royalty-free natural gas is expected to climb by almost 
        half, to about 1,200,000,000,000 cubic feet by 2011;
Whereas approximately 30 percent of all oil and over 20 percent of all gas 
        produced in the United States comes from the outer Continental Shelf;
Whereas it was the intent of Congress to provide royalty relief to promote 
        exploration and production in deep waters of the outer Continental Shelf 
        only at a time when oil and gas prices were comparatively low;
Whereas the Department of the Interior has always insisted that companies should 
        not be entitled to royalty relief if market prices for oil and gas 
        climbed above certain trigger points;
Whereas the 12 United States oil companies in the Standard & Poor's 500 that 
        have reported fourth-quarter results have seen an average 48 percent 
        rise in earnings and are expected to see full-year earnings of 
        $96,500,000,000;
Whereas the profit growth for oil companies is not nearing an end, with energy 
        analysts expecting 15 percent growth in earnings at those companies in 
        2006;
Whereas, at the same time oil and gas companies are posting record profits, 
        families in the United States are struggling with record energy costs 
        including a 48 percent increase in the cost of natural gas for this 
        heating season and a projected 7.3 percent increase in gasoline price 
        from the previous year;
Whereas the Energy Information Administration projects that these prices will 
        hold steady or increase over the course of the next 2 years; and
Whereas royalty revenues benefit 38 States, 41 Indian tribes, and fund the 
        National Historic Preservation Fund, and the Land and Water Conservation 
        Fund: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That it is the sense of the Senate that--
            (1) the Minerals Management Service should suspend all 
        future royalty relief until the Secretary can ensure that the 
        citizens of the United States receive a fair return from oil 
        and gas resources from the outer Continental Shelf; and
            (2) Congress must take steps to ensure that the oil and gas 
        industry does not receive a windfall and is not unjustly 
        enriched at the expense of the citizens of the United States.
                                 <all>
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