Independent producers urge presidential action

Petroleum News Alaska Staff

Jerry Jordan, chairman of the Independent Petroleum Association of America and president of Jordan Energy Inc., of Columbus, Ohio, said March 28 that oil and gas producers are not pleased with the administration’s response to the threat posed by oil imports.

“I cannot express strongly enough the frustration of oil and natural gas producers at President Clinton’s treatment of the national security threat posed by oil imports,” said Jordan on learning of a March 24 White House memo accepting the Secretary of Commerce’s recommendations under the Section 232 analysis.

The IPAA said that the one-paragraph memo acknowledges that “imports of crude oil threaten to impair the national security.” But, the association said, except “for two narrow tax features designed to enhance domestic oil and gas exploration and production, it is a continuation of prior policies which put us into the recent oil price shock.”

Jordan said: “Domestic oil production is the cornerstone of American economic and military security, yet the administration’s response fails to institute the long-range energy policies that could revitalize this sector of our economy.”

He called for immediate steps to bolster domestic petroleum production.

“The tax reform measures previously endorsed by the President are a start,” Jordan said, “but they are not enough.”

The IPAA has urged the administration to consider policies that:

• Increase access to public lands rich in oil and gas resources.

• Improve the regulatory climate by offering relief on royalties for oil and gas produced on federal lands, and by cutting out red tape associated with applications for lease permits.

• Further reform the tax structure.

• Reauthorize the Strategic Petroleum Reserve and fill it to capacity.

“When President Clinton arrived at the White House, the United States purchased 46.3 percent of our petroleum from other countries. Today, that number stands at roughly 56 percent,” Jordan said.