Florida Senate - 2010 SM 1726
By Senator Oelrich
14-01770-10 20101726__
1 Senate Memorial
2 A memorial to the Congress of the United States,
3 urging Congress to support the expiration and removal
4 of moratoria prohibiting exploration and production of
5 domestic supplies of oil and natural gas in federal
6 waters surrounding Florida and to include Florida in
7 revenue sharing resulting from the production of oil
8 and natural gas in federal waters surrounding Florida.
9
10 WHEREAS, across party lines, Florida’s representatives in
11 Congress have long recognized the dependence of the state’s
12 tourist and agricultural economies on access to reliable and
13 affordable petroleum products derived from oil and natural gas,
14 and
15 WHEREAS, according to the Department of Revenue, Florida
16 consumes approximately 26 million gallons of gasoline and diesel
17 fuel per day and approximately 10 billion gallons of gasoline
18 and diesel fuel annually, and
19 WHEREAS, the Public Service Commission expects Florida to
20 increase total utility generation capacity derived from natural
21 gas from 30 percent in 2005 to over 44 percent in 2014 to meet
22 increasing electricity demand in the state, and
23 WHEREAS, Florida’s industries, including fertilizer,
24 agrochemical, plastic, manufacturing, bakeries, juice and food
25 processing, pulp and paper, road construction, metals,
26 restaurants, hotels, grocery stores, and research institutions,
27 among many others, are heavily dependent on access to reliable
28 and affordable natural gas, and
29 WHEREAS, the United States has recently experienced record
30 high prices for gasoline, diesel fuel, and natural gas, and
31 WHEREAS, the Energy Information Administration reports that
32 global demand for oil has risen from 77 million barrels per day
33 in 2001 to 85 million barrels per day in 2007, and
34 WHEREAS, the Energy Information Administration predicts
35 that global demand for energy will increase 44 percent by 2030,
36 requiring an additional 16 million barrels of oil per day and a
37 46-percent increase in the production of natural gas, and
38 WHEREAS, according to the Energy Information
39 Administration, the United States produces just 43 percent of
40 the oil its citizens and residents consume and consumes 25
41 percent of the oil produced globally, and
42 WHEREAS, the United States Department of the Interior
43 conservatively estimates that around 116 billion barrels of oil,
44 enough to power 65 million cars for 60 years, and around 651
45 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, enough to power 60 million
46 homes for 160 years, is recoverable from domestic sources, and
47 WHEREAS, the United States Department of the Interior
48 conservatively estimates that around 233 trillion cubic feet of
49 natural gas is recoverable from federal waters in the Gulf of
50 Mexico, and
51 WHEREAS, development and production plans filed with the
52 United States Department of the Interior in 1997 confirm
53 potential resources for the daily production of up to 450
54 million cubic feet of natural gas in a small portion of the
55 Eastern Gulf of Mexico off the Florida Panhandle known as Destin
56 Dome, and
57 WHEREAS, technological advances and environmental
58 partnerships have enabled the energy industry to achieve new
59 levels of safety and ecological protection while producing oil
60 and natural gas in federal waters, and
61 WHEREAS, domestically, the Outer Continental Shelf produces
62 1 million barrels of oil per day, and, according to the National
63 Academy of Sciences, since 1980 less than 0.001 percent has
64 slipped into the sea, which is less than the amount of naturally
65 occurring oceanic seepage, and
66 WHEREAS, Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, which in 2005
67 battered the Gulf of Mexico and nearly 3,000 oil platforms
68 directly in their paths with major hurricane force winds and
69 100-foot seas, caused no loss of life among offshore energy
70 industry personnel or significant spills from offshore oil wells
71 on the Outer Continental Shelf, according to the United States
72 Department of the Interior, and
73 WHEREAS, in 2008, Hurricanes Ike and Gustav followed very
74 similar paths to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita and caused far less
75 damage, attesting to the progress made by the industry in
76 implementing enhanced oil platform and infrastructure standards,
77 and
78 WHEREAS, Florida continues to have a successful history of
79 oil and natural gas production in environmentally sensitive
80 areas such as the Everglades dating back to 1943, and
81 WHEREAS, according to the Department of Environmental
82 Protection, Florida oil and natural gas fields have produced
83 more than 548 million barrels of oil and more than 630 million
84 cubic feet of natural gas since 1943, and
85 WHEREAS, in exchange for a 125-mile drilling buffer in the
86 Gulf of Mexico, Florida declined to participate in the 2006 Gulf
87 of Mexico Energy Security Act that provides 37.5 percent of all
88 federal oil and natural gas revenues, including lease sales and
89 production royalties, to Gulf Coast states, and
90 WHEREAS, the initial Eastern Gulf of Mexico Sale 224 in the
91 2006 Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act generated in excess of
92 $64 million, 37.5 percent of which went directly to Texas,
93 Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama, and
94 WHEREAS, revenue sharing prescribed in the 2006 Gulf of
95 Mexico Energy Security Act will extend to all new production in
96 the Gulf of Mexico in 2017, and, as a result, Louisiana
97 estimates it will generate more than $650 million per year, and
98 WHEREAS, without a change in policy, Florida will continue
99 to be excluded from sharing additional revenues and royalties
100 related to lease sales and production royalties associated with
101 the development of oil and natural gas resources in the Gulf of
102 Mexico, NOW, THEREFORE,
103
104 Be It Resolved by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
105
106 That the Congress of the United States is urged to support
107 the expiration and removal of moratoria prohibiting exploration
108 and production of domestic supplies of oil and natural gas in
109 federal waters surrounding Florida and to include Florida in
110 revenue sharing resulting from the production of oil and natural
111 gas in federal waters surrounding Florida.
112 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be
113 dispatched to the President of the United States, to the
114 President of the United States Senate, to the Speaker of the
115 United States House of Representatives, and to each member of
116 the Florida delegation to the United States Congress.