[StBernard] Domenici-Landrieu Law Realized in Today's Superdome Lease Sale

Westley Annis Westley at da-parish.com
Wed Mar 19 20:27:03 EDT 2008


Domenici-Landrieu Law Realized in Today's Superdome Lease Sale Billions
begin to be directed to Louisiana from offshore leases.



WASHINGTON - Today in the Superdome, new areas in the Gulf of Mexico are
being leased for oil and gas development and, for the first time, a portion
of the resulting revenues will be shared with Louisiana under a 2006 law by
Senators Pete Domenici, R-N.M., and Mary L. Landrieu, D-La. As much as $78
million is conservatively estimated to flow to the state this year as a
result, with billions more ahead.

"Since I came to the Senate in 1997, it has been my No. 1 priority to get
Louisiana its fair share of offshore oil and gas revenues and to apply it to
shoring up our hurricane protection," Sen. Landrieu said.

"Today in the Superdome, the first proceeds of more than half a century of
team effort came to fruition. Over time, this law means billions for
Louisiana - every penny of which will be directed to coastal restoration and
hurricane protection."

"I'm pleased that so many bids were received by MMS to begin work in the
Gulf of Mexico," Sen. Domenici said. "I have long believed that any effort
to meet America's future energy challenges must be a comprehensive one that
includes both renewable technologies and increased domestic production.
Today's sale was made possible by the Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act,
which was passed by Congress in 2006 and is an example of the type of common
sense approach that is needed."

In 2006, Sens. Landrieu and Domenici, the Senate Energy Chairman, built a
bipartisan coalition and passed the Domenici-Landrieu Gulf of Mexico Energy
Security Act into law. It provides Louisiana and the three other Gulf Coast
states with a fair share of the offshore revenues generated. State
Department of Natural Resources Secretary Scott Angelle, his predecessor
Jack Caldwell and countless community groups contributed to this great
achievement for the state.

"This state now stands ready, with a master plan for coastal restoration
and protection, one that many of us have spent months of hard work to
develop and want to implement," said Louisiana DNR Secretary Scott Angelle.
"Rest assured that groundbreaking coastal projects will be a thing of the
present - not just the future anymore. Louisiana is the leader in domestic
energy production in America, today truly sets the stage for us to continue
doing so while at the same time pursuing the largest, most important public
works effort for sustaining a valuable coastline."

"While lease sales in the past have been significant to our economy, today's
lease sale is critical to sustaining our coast," said Charlotte Randolph,
Lafourche Parish President and President of Parishes Against Coastal Erosion
(PACE). "These future OCS revenues will be integral to protecting coastal
residents and the communities in which we live. The last sale set a record,
and today's event should top the last, signifying the importance of the
Energy Coast to fueling our nation.

"On behalf of Lafourche Parish and the PACE organization, a great thanks is
offered to our Congressional delegation, past and present, particularly
Sen. Landrieu, who has worked for so long to achieve this momentous royalty
sharing."

"Finally, we are getting a share of the revenues to help cover the state's
cost to meet our nation's energy needs," said Lake Charles Mayor Randy
Roach. "We applaud the efforts of Senator Landrieu and the others who made
this possible."

In 2005, Hurricanes Katrina and Rita devastated Louisiana's coast, left
vulnerable from years of eroding wetlands. Since the 1930s Louisiana's
coastline has lost 1,900 square miles of wetlands, a swath about the size of
Delaware. Katrina and Rita washed away another 217 square miles, an area 3.5
times the size of Washington, D.C. Wetlands serve as natural buffers against
storm surges, and their disappearance contributed to the impact of the
hurricanes. The storms and catastrophic federal levee breaks that followed
killed 1,071 people and destroyed more than 200,000 homes.

After the storms, Sen. Landrieu worked with Sen. Domenici to open more
territory in the Gulf to drilling and share a fair portion of the revenues
with Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas and Alabama - the states that support the
industry. In December 2006, the Domenici-Landrieu Gulf of Mexico Energy
Security Act was signed into law by President Bush. It ended a 25-year
moratorium on expanding Gulf drilling and opened up more than 8 million
acres to new oil and gas leases.

The bill also provides Louisiana and the three other Gulf Coast states with
37.5 percent of revenues generated - the same share Truman offered Louisiana
in 1952, but the state rejected it in a failed bid for all of the revenues.
The new area contains about 1.3 billion barrels of oil and 5.8 trillion
cubic feet of natural gas. That natural gas alone could sustain 1,000
chemical plants for 40 years and those plants would provide jobs for about
400,000 Americans.

Billions will be directed to Louisiana over time with conservative estimates
from today's lease sale predicting between $33 million and $78 million for
Louisiana this year alone. The Gulf States collectively are projected to
receive upwards of $140 million and an additional $48 million is estimated
to go to the federal Land and Water Conservation Fund. Under the
Domenici-Landrieu law, the state must use the money to restore the eroding
coastline, and Louisiana passed a constitutional amendment codifying the
law's intent.

"We have hard work ahead of us, but today we closed Truman's chapter of our
history and opened a new one - one in which Louisiana has its own long
sought-after source of independent revenue to secure our future," Sen.
Landrieu said.



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