GAO Report Reinforces Need for the Revenue-Generating Offshore Energy Industry

For Immediate Release:  Thursday, October 17, 2019
Contact:  Justin Williams, (202) 465-8464, jwilliams@nullnoia.org

GAO Report Reinforces Need for the Revenue-Generating Offshore Energy Industry

Washington, D.C. – NOIA Vice President of Communications and Member Development Nicolette Nye issued the following statement regarding the Government Accountability Office (GAO) report, Opportunities Exist to Better Ensure a Fair Return on Federal Resources:

“The GAO report centers on the Deep Water Royalty Relief Act of 1995, a Clinton administration action to increase bonus bid revenues to the U.S. Treasury while incentivizing American offshore energy production. There was no mistake in the law.  The 5th Circuit determined that Congress was clear and that Congress intended to provide royalty relief in order to jumpstart American oil and gas production in deepwater.

“If not for the Deep Water Royalty Relief Act (DWRRA), we likely would not be producing U.S. oil offshore in record amounts today. This decades-old decision set the groundwork for an American offshore energy revolution that has generated nearly $90 billion in federal revenue between 2006 and 2018, a fact that the GAO report reinforces. Innovation and technological advances, spurred in part by the DWRRA, have made the American offshore energy industry the engine of economic growth and government revenue that it is today.

“Rather than raising billions of dollars in offshore royalties, it seems the House Majority would prefer to completely shut off the offshore energy industry, removing a vital source of government revenue and American energy security. The GAO report underscores the importance, and amazing benefits, of a robust offshore energy industry and should encourage policymakers to adopt proactive policies that embrace American offshore leadership.”

ABOUT NOIA
NOIA is the only national trade association representing all segments of the offshore industry with an interest in the exploration and production of both traditional and renewable energy resources on the nation’s outer continental shelf.  NOIA’s mission is to secure reliable access and a fair regulatory and economic environment for the companies that develop the nation’s valuable offshore energy resources in an environmentally responsible manner. The NOIA membership comprises nearly 250 companies engaged in business activities ranging from producing to drilling, engineering to marine and air transport, offshore construction to equipment manufacture and supply, telecommunications to finance and insurance, and renewable energy.

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