Oil Drilling: Millions of Acres Already Leased and Available to Drill – Gulf of Mexico: Less than 8 million of 39 million acres under lease for drilling are being drilled

(Washington, DC)  —  Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz criticized the House Republican leadership for misleading the American people on gas prices and the result of additional drilling, saying millions of acres are currently available for oil companies to drill. The Minerals Management Service (MMS) states that there are 68 million acres onshore and offshore in the U.S. that are leased by oil companies—open to drilling and actually under lease—but not being developed.

“The idea that if we just open up more land to drilling we’d have lower gas prices is false,” said Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz. “Oil companies currently have 68 million acres of land leased for drilling that they are developing. They are deliberately misleading the American people to believe that this is the simple solution to the much more complex problem of rising energy costs.”

Recent statements by Senator John McCain and Governor Charlie Crist have indicated a shift in position to lift the moratorium on drilling in sensitive areas on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS). These statements appear politically motivated since the fact is 80 percent of the oil available on the Outer Continental Shelf is already open for leasing—but the oil companies haven’t decided it’s worth their money to drill there.

“Oil companies have 39 million acres under lease for drilling in the Gulf of Mexico, but they’re drilling on less than 8 million acres of that,” said Rep. Wasserman Schultz. “Now, the Republicans want to give the oil companies even more land for drilling, further jeopardizing Florida’s $65-billion tourism economy, as well as our beaches, our cruise ports, our resorts, and our homes, by allowing oil rigs off the coast”

In fact, just last year, the Department of Energy (DOE) reported that lifting the moratorium on OCS drilling “would not have a significant impact on domestic crude oil and natural gas prices before 2030”, which is long after investments in alternative energy sources would have a much greater impact on reducing consumer’s gas prices: “The projections in the DOE OCS case indicate that access to the Pacific, Atlantic, and eastern Gulf regions would not have a significant impact on domestic crude oil and natural gas production or prices before 2030…Because oil prices are determined on the international market, however, any impact on average wellhead prices is expected to be insignificant.” [DOE’s Annual Energy Outlook 2007, 2/07 http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/ftproot/forecasting/0383(2007).pdf ]

The Democratic-led Congress already passed into law auto fuel efficiency standards that will raise fuel efficiency by 40% by 2020. These new fuel efficiency standards will save motorists the equivalent of $1.17 per gallon by 2020.

“We need to continue to invest in alternatives, like ethanol which is currently at $3.15 a gallon, and create jobs for Americans while reducing our dependence on foreign oil. At the same time, we must mandate that oil companies drill on the 68 million acres they’ve already leased for drilling, and not jeopardize our coast to potential long lasting damage” said Rep. Wasserman Schultz.