44th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - second session, 2000

REQUESTING CONGRESS TO ENACT AND THE PRESIDENT TO SIGN SENATE BILL 595 TO PROVIDE TAX INCENTIVES FOR OIL AND GAS DEVELOPMENT AND TO LIMIT OIL IMPORTS TO SIXTY PERCENT OF DOMESTIC CONSUMPTION.

WHEREAS, domestic oil and gas production is shrinking, foreign oil imports are surging and United States consumption of foreign oil, currently at fifty-six percent of total consumption, could reach sixty-eight percent by 2010; and

WHEREAS, the number of oil and gas rigs operating in the United States is the lowest since 1944, when records were first kept; and

WHEREAS, if revenue to producers does not increase, one-half of the marginal wells in the United States might be shut down, accounting for as much oil as we currently import from Saudi Arabia; and

WHEREAS, declining production, well abandonment and reduced exploration and development are shrinking the domestic oil and gas industry; and

WHEREAS, the world's richest producing regions in the middle east are experiencing greater political instability; and

WHEREAS, the united nations may make Iraq the swing oil producing nation, giving Saddam Hussein a tremendous amount of power; and

WHEREAS, reliance on foreign oil for more than sixty percent of our daily oil and gas consumption is a national security threat; and

WHEREAS, our energy security is directly related to the level of domestic production; and

WHEREAS, Senate Bill 595, sponsored by Senator Pete Domenici and now pending in congress, will provide a tax credit to prolong domestic production from marginal wells and prevent abandonment of wells responsible for one-half of domestic production and protect the nation from the impacts of foreign embargos or hostile actions;

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that congress be encouraged to enact and the president be encouraged to sign Senate Bill 595 to provide tax incentives for oil and gas development and to limit oil imports to sixty percent of domestic consumption; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be transmitted to the New Mexico congressional delegation and to the president of the United States.