Business
Election2012: Obama focuses on energy in key states
U.S. President Barack Obama. PHOTO/File
President Barack Obama is announcing the sale of oil and gas drilling leases for nearly 38 million acres in the Gulf Coast and promoting the completion of a highway corridor for vehicles that run on liquefied natural gas, a response to critics who say his policies have stifled domestic energy production.
Obama was making his announcements in Nevada Thursday, just days after drawing Republican criticism for rejecting a cross-country oil pipeline that would have delivered Canadian tar sands oil to refineries in Texas.
Obama was to speak at a Las Vegas UPS center to showcase a refueling station that will permit vehicles that use liquefied natural gas to travel from the Port of Long Beach to Salt Lake City. The station was built with help from Obama’s 2009 economic stimulus plan.
By highlighting the natural gas refueling station and the sale of energy leases on the Gulf, Obama is drawing attention to two aspects of his energy policy, greater domestic energy production and investment in cleaner energy sources.
The nearly 38-million-acre parcel the Obama administration is putting up for lease is part of an offshore drilling plan for 2007-12 put in place by President George W. Bush. But after the massive BP oil spill led to an overhaul of the government’s oversight of offshore exploration and production, some of those areas had to be re-evaluated for the environmental risks associated with drilling.
Combined with other parts of Obama’s “all-of-the-above” energy pitch, the White House is portraying the president as willing to seek the middle ground on energy after Republicans and the industry criticized him for the moratorium put in place after the Gulf disaster, the rejection of the Keystone XL pipeline from Canada, and other policies they say have hampered production, jobs and national energy security.
The lease proposal includes Obama administration measures designed to encourage oil and gas exploration companies to develop the leases. The Interior Department has increased the minimum bid for deepwater leases to US$100 an acre from US$37.50. Administration officials said Wednesday that the increase was designed to give leaseholders incentives to invest in acreage they would be more likely to explore. Escalating rental rates are also designed to encourage faster exploration and development.
