Congressman Kevin Brady Testimony
Texas Insider Report: WASHINGTON D.C. The Department of Interiors own analysis showed the moratorium would cause 23000 Americans to lose their jobs. And if it continues leading energy researchers estimate 300000 jobs and $147 billion in state and federal revenue could be lost if independent drillers are forced out of the Gulf of Mexico.
The moratorium on deepwater drilling in the Gulf of Mexico and the undeniable de facto moratorium in shallow waters are costing thousands of American jobs & will create grave and permanent harm to workers and businesses if either is allowed to continue.
Director Bromwich I strongly urge you to restore responsible timely permitting of rigs in the shallow waters of the Gulf of Mexico and to immediately end the deepwater moratorium. Let our workers return to work and allow our businesses to again safely explore for and produce affordable energy for American families and companies.
Reinstating the drilling moratorium after the federal courts had struck it down is unacceptable especially since recent public documents reveal the White House knew in advance it would force over 23000 American energy workers out of their jobs and into the unemployment line.
I find it equally troubling that President Obama has refused to accept an official congressional invitation to travel to Houston to meet face-to-face
with energy workers and businesses in Texas impacted by his moratorium.
Dont the jobs of our energy workers matter? What about the small and independent businesses that will not survive the shallow and deep water moratoriums - isnt anyone in the White House listening to them?
It is time to stop condemning an entire industry and their workers because of the isolated BP oil spill.
American Energy
The Gulf supplies a third of our nations energy and while consumers have so far been relatively spared from significant price increases the halt in production will ultimately come to bear. America will be forced to rely more on foreign sources of oil from unstable regions of the world after years of slowly decreasing that reliance.
The explosion on the Deepwater Horizon and oil spill were tragedies. Eleven men lost their lives and my prayers go out to their families. I commend you for thoroughly investigating the
cause of that disaster and defining what lessons there are to learn.
Yet as tragic as the spill was it was BPs spill not an entire industrys. Energy companies in this country have been safely producing American oil in the Gulf for half a century and have drilled 40000 thousand wells safely. We can do both and through these forums we have seen Americas energy industry demonstrate that capability.
Jobs
The moratorium has lead to another disaster: economic devastation for many residents in Gulf Coast states including in Texas where 1.7 million jobs rely on the energy industry -- a quarter of our states economy.
Nationwide unemployment is rising toward 10 percent. In many areas surrounding the Gulf its even higher. The truth of the matter is too many Americans have simply stopped looking for work. On one hand Washington has spent hundreds of billions of dollars in a futile attempt to create jobs while on the other has enacted policies that knowingly kill them.
The Department of Interiors own analysis showed the moratorium would cause 23000 Americans to lose their jobs. And if it continues leading energy researchers estimate 300000 jobs and $147 billion in state and federal revenue could be lost if independent drillers are forced out of
the Gulf of Mexico.
And others including Dr. Michelle Foss of the University of Texas Energy Economic Center have testified before Congress that retaining a moratorium on oil and gas exploration could have significant negative effects on our economy.
It costs about half a million dollars to maintain a rig -- per day. Few are going to sit idle for long; they will move to where the work is and once they are gone they are gone for years on long-term contracts taking American jobs and capital with them. Two rigs the Ocean Endeavor and the Ocean Confidence have left so far one to Egypt and the other to the Congo.
Roughly 1400 jobs are tied to each rig and thousands more benefit indirectly. These jobs do not all represent big oil." They are small and medium sized businesses fighting to survive.
Ninety percent of the wells drilled in this country are drilled by independent companies. And thousands more vendors support that production.
Blackhawk Specialty Tools had to lay off 20 percent of its workforce in just the first month following the moratorium. The next month it was 50 percent. Their president said to me what company can go six months without revenue and expect to survive?
Production
America cannot afford to sit idle in the Gulf. We are still decades away from being able to fuel our country with renewable sources of energy and we must invest in traditional sources of energy to carry through the transition.
Prior to the BP accident President Obama had opened some new offshore areas for development. He did so because two years ago we faced $150 per barrel oil - and more than $4 a gallon gas. The forces that caused that price spike still exist.
Russia and the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries including Saudi Arabia and Venezuela account for 75 of the worlds proven oil reserves (OPEC 70 Russia 4.4).
The only other substantial proven oil reserves are in North America (15). The oil price spike two years ago occurred because China and other industrializing countries demanded more oil and OPEC largely refused to
increase production. Price volatility increased because the market saw the increasing trend in demand with no clear understanding of how supply would respond.
Eighty percent of the Gulfs oil and 45 of its natural gas production come from wells in more than 1000 feet of water. Since 1986 65 oil and gas discoveries occurred in water depths exceeding 5000 feet. In 2008 the Gulf of Mexicos outer continental shelf had the largest number of U.S. crude
oil discoveries which increased its proven reserves while reserves fell for the nation as a whole.
Before the spill expected deepwater Gulf oil production increases essentially represented the entire net growth in U.S. oil supply and 4 of global oil supply growth to 2015.
The price of oil is back near $80 per barrel despite a weak world economy as OPEC has substantially cut its oil production. Deepwater development was a promising source of incremental oil among otherwise anemic growth in non-OPEC supply.
We cannot afford to treat the Gulf spill solely as an environmental disaster and not as a threat to the economy.
Safety
History proves we can produce oil in the Gulf safely. Fifty thousand wells have been drilled in the Gulf of Mexico since 1947.
We have also seen significant advances in drilling technology over that time. Before BP no substantial oil spills had occurred in the Gulfs Hurricane Alley" even from storms as devastating as Katrina and Rita which destroyed 113 offshore drilling platforms in 2005. Almost 4000 wells have been drilled in water of more than 1000 feet.
Experts agree there is little need for a moratorium. Eight of the 13 experts that had reviewed your departments May report on the spill before it included a drilling moratorium have since publicly rejected the need for one.
Even federal courts have rejected the moratorium ruling the Administration has produced insufficient evidence that each rig is unsafe in
order to justify such an across-the-board ban on production.
Director Bromwich no one argues the health of the Gulf coast environment isnt vitally important to our welfare and the lives of millions along the Gulf coast who rely on the waters to fish or to welcome tourists.
No one feels this more directly than the people of the Gulf. But you must also balance safety with economic reality.
There are going to be risks every time a worker sets foot on an oil rig as there are risks when a passenger steps on an airplane or family sets off on a road trip.
The job of the federal government is to effectively manage and minimize those risks - not to eliminate them altogether.
Thank you for the opportunity to submit my testimony.
cause of that disaster and defining what lessons there are to learn.
Yet as tragic as the spill was it was BPs spill not an entire industrys. Energy companies in this country have been safely producing American oil in the Gulf for half a century and have drilled 40000 thousand wells safely. We can do both and through these forums we have seen Americas energy industry demonstrate that capability.
Jobs
The moratorium has lead to another disaster: economic devastation for many residents in Gulf Coast states including in Texas where 1.7 million jobs rely on the energy industry -- a quarter of our states economy.
Nationwide unemployment is rising toward 10 percent. In many areas surrounding the Gulf its even higher. The truth of the matter is too many Americans have simply stopped looking for work. On one hand Washington has spent hundreds of billions of dollars in a futile attempt to create jobs while on the other has enacted policies that knowingly kill them.
The Department of Interiors own analysis showed the moratorium would cause 23000 Americans to lose their jobs. And if it continues leading energy researchers estimate 300000 jobs and $147 billion in state and federal revenue could be lost if independent drillers are forced out of 
