DeLauro Calls for Repeal of Oil Company Royalty Plan
DeLauro Calls for Repeal of Oil Company Royalty Plan
- Repeal would save taxpayers $7 billion -
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Congresswoman Rosa L. DeLauro (Conn.-3) today called on Congress to repeal a royalty plan that will give oil companies $7 billion over 5 years. The plan, passed in 1996 when energy prices were lower, was designed to encourage exploration of oil and gas drilling. A projection included in the budget released last week by the Interior Department estimates that over the next 5 years, companies will pump approximately $65 billion worth of oil and natural gas from federal property without paying royalties. The government estimates the savings from this plan to be $7 billion - one of the biggest giveaways of oil and gas in American history.
"With gas prices still at record high levels, working families struggling to make ends meet while heating their homes and fueling their cars, and oil companies on track to receive billions under the Bush energy bill, a $7 billion giveaway is the last thing that American families can afford. Americans will face the largest deficit in history this year - $423 billion. Oil companies have been enjoying windfall profits for months during the gas crisis - profits that have only grown exponentially when the heating season began this winter. This $7 billion would be revenue and would deflect the massive spending cuts planned in the president's budget to health care and education.
"During this time of national emergency, oil companies ought to pay their fair share for access to oil and gas that is owned by the American taxpayer. The taxpayer has certainly been paying more than his fair share."
In Southern Connecticut, gas remains over $2.35 per gallon. In February, Exxon Mobil Corp. posted record profits for any U.S. company with $10.71 billion for the fourth quarter and $36.13 billion for the year. Last year, DeLauro introduced the Windfall Profits Rebate Act of 2005, the House companion legislation introduced in the Senate by Byron Dorgan and Chris Dodd, which would impose a temporary windfall profit tax on crude oil and to rebate the tax collected back to the American consumer.
More than 6,000 New Haven families have requested home heating assistance this winter.
http://www.house.gov/delauro/press/2006/February/oil_royalty_2_14_06.html