David Thomas: “I would like to briefly comment on what we hope will be the pending amendment, the electric title, but there is much…”

“I would like to briefly comment on what we hope will be the pending amendment, the electric title, but there is much more to the bill than that, of course. I would like to comment on what I think generally are the titles and the highlights of the Energy bill. Title I is on oil and gas. It does a lot. No. 1, it permanently authorizes this strategic petroleum reserve, the reserve held by the Government in case there are crises. This will permanently authorize that strategic reserve. It provides for production incentives for marginal wells. We find in Wyoming, where we have had oil production for a good many years, when marginal wells get down to having low production they become uneconomic to produce. Yet the accumulation of all the production from small producing wells is substantial. This provides for incentives to encourage continued production--done mostly by taxes. Royalty relief for deepwater production, that is exactly the same kind of thing. They can be in the gulf, for example. They are sometimes more expensive, but a great opportunity for more energy production.”