The Institute for Energy Research called out Rep. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) this week for releasing a report that claims that big oil companies are not using the leases that they hold in the Gulf of Mexico. According to the institute, there is a reason why those companies haven't developed, explored or produced oil on those leases. Here are the details.
* Markey, ranking member of the House Committee on Natural Resources, stated in his report that the almost 3,700 acres of the federal drilling leases that are not being used could contain as much as 18 billion barrels of oil.
* Markey says that the "Big Five" oil companies -- including ExxonMobil, BP, Shell, Chevron and ConocoPhillips -- hold full or partial shares of more than 1,500 of these idle leases.
* Unused leases account for 72 percent of the total acres leased offshore and 56 percent of the total acres leased onshore, Markey's report stated.
* "Oil companies have failed to explore, develop or produce these leases while simultaneously calling on Congress and the Interior Department to lease more federal offshore lands," the report stated, noting that about half of the leases in deepwater have been idle for at least five years.
* However, according to the Institute for Energy Research, "Just because a lease is bought, doesn't mean it will yield oil and gas."
* The institute says that Markey's report fails to mention that some leases are more valuable than others and that the most valuable areas of the federal land estate aren't being offered for lease.
* According to the institute, companies often have to purchase many leases just to find one worthy discovery.
* Markey, along with Energy and Minerals Subcommittee ranking member Rep. Rush Holt, introduced legislation in 2011 called the "USE IT Act" that would provide stronger incentives for oil and gas companies to develop on leases they hold rather than letting them sit idle.
* House Republicans last summer voted down an amendment that would require companies to relinquish idle leases so those leases could be re-sold to companies ready to drill, the report stated.
* The Institute for Energy Research says the Mineral Leasing Act and the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act already require that companies produce on leases within five to 10 years or relinquish the leases.
* It takes millions to billions of dollars to develop leases, the institute reported, with the long process involving geological mapping, testing and drilling exploratory wells. The process also sometimes involves delays caused by environmental litigation.
* The average time between when an exploration plan for offshore drilling is submitted and when it is approved was, as of May, 367 days, the institute stated.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/lose-oil-companies-stockpiling-leases-200700264.html
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