For Immediate Release: Monday, September 24, 2012
Contact: Nicolette Nye, (202) 347-6900, nicolette@nullnoia.org
NOIA Welcomes Announcement of Proposed CGOM Lease Sale 227
Washington, D.C. – National Ocean Industries Association (NOIA) President Randall Luthi today issued the following statement regarding the announcement of Proposed Central Gulf of Mexico Lease Sale 227:
“NOIA welcomes the announcement today by the Department of the Interior for Proposed Central Gulf of Mexico Lease Sale 227, scheduled for March 20, 2013. We look forward to this sale as well as Western Gulf of Mexico lease Sale 229, scheduled in November, 2012. However, we disagree with certain points in today’s announcement.
“First, we believe a truly ‘all of the above energy strategy’ should not limit oil and gas exploration to just 15 percent of our Outer Continental Shelf (OCS), particularly at a time when exploring every possible energy source is critical to boosting our nation’s economy and creating jobs. The fact is that the OCS Oil and Gas Leasing Program for 2012-2017 plan under which sales 227 and 229 are scheduled, lacks access to any truly new areas, keeps 85 percent of America’s federal waters off-limits through at least 2017, and forces the offshore industry to look for crucial oil and gas resources in the same areas it has looked for three decades.
“Second, while it is true that ‘domestic oil and gas production has increased,’ the increase has occurred on state and private lands. Domestic oil and gas production has actually decreased in areas under federal direction, including offshore. A Five Year Leasing Plan is the most definitive policy action an Administration can take regarding our country’s offshore energy development. Because the federal government completely controls the vast resources of the OCS, the five year plan is a greater measurement of an administration’s policy decisions than current energy development on state and private lands elsewhere in this country.
“As the industry moves forward to engage in what is available acreage in the upcoming lease sales, we hope that focus will remain on facilitating greater access to the 85 percent of the OCS that remains closed. Within the closed areas lie new jobs, energy, and revenues to the treasury that all remain desperately needed.”
###
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 more than 275 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.