Jackson advocate. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1939-current, 1957-02-16
Asserts State Law
Prohibits Excess
Oil Production

WASHINGTON. - Especially -
Rep. Frank lizard, ID. Tex Thurs
day hit back at critics of the Texas
Railroad Commission who have
been laying the blame for short
ages in the oil-for- Europe program
on the Texas regulatory body.
The Texas congressman charged
on the floor of the House sit is
the administration responsibility
and the administration has dele
gated that responsibility to Is ma
jor American oil companies
lizard pointed out that the three
major producing states in the
southwest-Texas, Oklahoma and
have increased in pro-
duction for the month of Febru-
ary"
lizard told the House that the
railroad commission is primarily
conservation body and SIS not a
wheeling, irresponsible organ
ization accountable only unto it
self" He said it was set up by,
and responsible to Texas statutes.
In pointing out that no matter
what administration officials may
say in an attempt to shift the
blame for any failure of their re-
sponsibility in the present situa-
ton, lizard said Texas statutes
forbid the waste of crude oil and
define that waste as production in
excess of market demand and
transportation facilities.
"Thus under present conditions,
the Railroad Commission could not,
without violating Texas law, have
increased Texas allowable any
more than has been DONE" lizard
said. He brought out the fact that
in February, regulatory officials
in both Texas and Louisiana have
ordered additional increases, re-
sulting in total U. S. production
this month of almost 100000 bar
rels daily more crude oil than in
October 1856.
The congressman also said that
Texas law requires the commission
to allocate the demand for Texas
crude fairly among the various
fields and wells of the state and
that all purchasers must take
equitably from the fields wherever
they buy or produce petroleum.
lizard charged that if the ad-
ministration is seriously concerned
about the lack of oil going to Eu-
rope it should use Section 7 of the
Trade Agreements Extension Act
to shut off the flow of Venezuelan
imports to this country. "Then
those imports would have to go to
Europe. There would be no other
place for them to go"
lizard cited the 502,100 barrels
daily of Venezuelan crude being
imported into this country as being
available for oil-thirsty Europe.
The Texan said there were two
things the Middle East Emergency
Committee could do to alleviate any
shortage to Europe. 1t could, he
said. see to it that as many I'M
connected wells as could be eco
nomically connected TO pipelines
were so connected and the com.
panies on the committee could i'm
mediately reduce their gasoline
output and thereby make large
volumes of un-needed crude oil a.
valuable to Western Europe, since
the companies on the committee
also control both a major portion
of the pipelines and refining ca
pacity in this country.
Rep. lizard called the recent
crude oil price increase "necessi-
tated and justified by spiraling
costs"
He claimed the oil producing in
dustry "has contributed nothing to
the inflationary pressures of the
past 3h years" and that the in
dustry's critics "seem to think the
oil business operates in an eco
nomic vacuum, completely immune
from the influences of our general
economy"
lizard cited Bureau of Labor sta
tistics which showed that since
1947 average hourly wages paid
in the producing industry had in
creased 613 percent. Other in
creases directly affecting the crude
oil producer, the Texas congress
man said, were oil field machinery