July 28, 2005

Hall was a conferee on the House-Senate Conference and the author of the provision to increase domestic production of oil and natural gas in ultra-deep areas of the Gulf of Mexico and unconventional onshore areas.  The House-Senate Conference worked through the weekend and completed the compromise bill after a marathon session Monday evening.

“This is a great victory for Congress, for the President, and for the American people,” Hall said.  “Energy is vital to our national economy and national security, and this comprehensive energy policy will help ensure available and affordable energy supplies for years to come.”

“The energy bill increases production, improves delivery, provides incentives for conservation and renewable energy sources, and promotes research and development,” Hall noted.  “I’m particularly proud of my provision to authorize a new program to develop the technologies for drilling in ultra-deep areas.  There is 60 years’ worth of technically recoverable gas reserves in the U.S. which require new technologies to affordably produce.”

The Ultra-Deepwater and Unconventional Natural Gas and Other Petroleum Resources program will target known natural gas and petroleum geological formations that have been untapped due to either technological limitations or the high cost of existing production technologies.  Funding will be $1.5 billion over a ten-year period, with $50 million each year in directed spending and $100 million authorized each year and subject to appropriations.  The Energy Information Administration has indicated that the program will pay for itself in the form of increased royalties.

“Research and development are critical to our efforts to increase domestic energy supplies and to reduce America’s dependence on foreign sources of energy,” Hall said. 

Tax incentives in the bill will help improve energy production, transportation and efficiency.  These include provisions to improve electricity reliability, extend renewable and clean energy incentives, promote clean coal facilities, encourage the purchase of hybrid, fuel cell and other alternative power vehicles, among others.

“For the past five years Congress has attempted to pass an energy bill.  I’m very pleased that the House and Senate reached an agreement this year and that Conferees were willing to compromise for the greater good,” Hall added.  “There were some trade-offs, but the overall bill is an important step toward a national energy policy that will help meet America’s energy needs and prevent future generations of young Americans from having to face the prospect of war in order to realize energy self-sufficiency for our Nation.”