David Thomas: “Ever since I have been in Congress, I have represented Naval Petroleum Reserve No. 1 at Elk Hills. Since the mid-1970's…”

“Ever since I have been in Congress, I have represented Naval Petroleum Reserve No. 1 at Elk Hills. Since the mid-1970's, on order of then President Ford, the Naval Petroleum Reserve has been producing petroleum at the maximum efficient rate. That is, the Government has been trying to run it like a private oil field. For years, beginning with the Reagan administration, there was suggestion that we sell Elk Hills, since we are producing it as though it were a private operation. We said then that we wanted to make sure that the taxpayers got the maximum benefit of selling this very important natural resource, and that it be sold, because we can maximize the removal of petroleum from the reserve if it is coordinated with all of the private sector holdings surrounding Elk Hills. With the assistance of, in one of the better bipartisan efforts in the 104th Congress, the two gentlemen from Virginia, Mr. Bateman and Mr. Sisisky, we put together a procedure for selling Elk Hills. It calls on experts, a maximum of five, to determine the value.…”