SLS 16RS-2457 ORIGINAL
2016 Regular Session
SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 116
BY SENATOR HEWITT
FEDERAL PROGRAMS. Requests the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management to
maintain region-wide leasing in the Gulf of Mexico in the 2017-2022 Outer Continental
Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program without any further exclusions or restrictions.
1 A RESOLUTION
2 To urge and request the United States Bureau of Ocean Energy Management to maintain
3 region-wide leasing in the Gulf of Mexico in the 2017-2022 Outer Continental Shelf
4 Oil and Gas Leasing Program without any further exclusions or restrictions.
5 WHEREAS, the United States Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) has
6 released its 2017-2022 Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Draft Proposed Program
7 which is now in its public comment period; and
8 WHEREAS, the Louisiana oil and gas industry and its workers, suppliers, and the
9 entire business community have expressed their strong support for offshore energy
10 exploration in comments filed with BOEM concerning the development of the federal
11 government's "Five-Year Plan" for offshore oil and gas leasing program for 2017-2022; and
12 WHEREAS, the American economy is truly dependent on and stimulated by the oil
13 and gas production of the Gulf of Mexico; and
14 WHEREAS, the Gulf of Mexico provides nearly twenty percent of the nation's crude
15 oil supply, an energy supply that powers our entire country; and
16 WHEREAS, the oil and gas industry in the United States remains a stable force
17 around the globe due to the Gulf's output of natural resources; and
18 WHEREAS, in Fiscal Year 2014 alone, Gulf of Mexico energy development
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SLS 16RS-2457 ORIGINAL
1 supported over six hundred fifty thousand jobs, contributed over $64 billion in gross
2 domestic product, and provided over $7 billion in revenue to the federal government; and
3 WHEREAS, offshore energy development and production in the Gulf of Mexico is
4 vital to the economic well-being of the Gulf Coast states, coastal communities, and the entire
5 nation; and
6 WHEREAS, as BOEM itself recognizes in their 2017-2022 Outer Continental Shelf
7 Oil and Gas Leasing Draft Proposed Program, the Gulf is ". . . one of the richest oil and
8 natural gas regions in the world . . ." and concluded that removal of the Gulf of Mexico from
9 the next leasing program would cause incremental environmental and social costs estimated
10 between $5 billion to $13 billion due to a greater reliance on energy from other sources; and
11 WHEREAS, Louisiana has been consistently ranked number two in the nation in
12 natural gas production, ranked in the top five in oil production, and our refining capability
13 is second only to Texas, our close friend and neighbor-state; and
14 WHEREAS, because of Louisiana's enviable energy infrastructure, the state and its
15 citizens not only benefit from the production of oil and natural gas but additionally benefit
16 from the transportation of hydrocarbons via pipelines to Louisiana's refineries and
17 petrochemical plants; and
18 WHEREAS, our nation's energy policy is dependent on a thriving oil and natural gas
19 industry in the Gulf of Mexico and requires continued and expanded access to all areas of
20 the Gulf of Mexico to increase and improve the economic well-being of residents, workers,
21 and businesses in the Gulf states region; and
22 WHEREAS, our nation's energy policy directly affects our trade policy with other
23 countries, our workforce, our economy, and our position as a global super-power to protect
24 our interests at home and abroad.
25 THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Senate of the Legislature of Louisiana
26 does hereby recognize that it is in the best interest of Louisiana's citizens and businesses and
27 those of the entire nation and does hereby respectfully urge and request the United States
28 Bureau of Ocean Energy Management to maintain region-wide leasing in the Gulf of Mexico
29 in the 2017-2022 program without any further exclusions or restrictions.
30 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be transmitted to the
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SLS 16RS-2457 ORIGINAL
1 secretary of the United States Department of the Interior and the members of Louisiana's
2 congressional delegation, and be submitted to the appropriate Federal Register comment
3 docket related to the 2017-2022 Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Draft Proposed
4 Program (BOEM-2016-0003) and Draft Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement
5 (BOEM-2016-0002).
The original instrument and the following digest, which constitutes no part
of the legislative instrument, were prepared by J. W. Wiley.
DIGEST
SR 116 Original 2016 Regular Session Hewitt
Requests the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management to maintain region-wide leasing in
the Gulf of Mexico in the 2017-2022 Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program
without any further exclusions or restrictions.
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