On the recordJuly 30, 2010
I thank the gentleman from New Mexico and I thank him for working together with me on this amendment and for his leadership. I offered a similar amendment and was very pleased to join this amendment as the Teague-Jackson Lee amendment. It is important to note that this is a fair amendment that does something. It really does do something for the small, independent companies. This amendment would allow the financial responsibility required to operate in the gulf to be pooled among companies working together. It means that we give them the opportunity because of the $300 million necessary COFR to be able to do business in the gulf and not go out of business. What it really means is preserving thousands of jobs. First of all, the U.S. independent operators in the gulf because of their operations, they have a major contribution to energy security and energy supply providing reasonably priced fuels for our families and economy. Eighty-one percent of oil producing in the gulf is in the independent leases and 46 percent of the gulf's producing deepwater leases as well. Independents have drilled 1,298 wells in the deepwater and safely. Independents operate an average of 70 percent of the farmed-out acreage that originally were in the hands of the majors over the past 10 years. Almost 3 billion barrels of oil equivalent in reserves that were originally found by the majors are now operated by independents; small companies that create a lot of jobs.
