The American Trucking Associations on Wednesday, Sept. 16, said it strongly encourages sending a letter to the U.S. Minerals Management Service asking for regions on the Outer Continental Shelf to be included in the 2010-1015 program that determines which regions may be leased for offshore oil and natural gas drilling. The comment period closes on Sept. 21.
“Offshore areas are home to huge, untapped resources of oil and natural gas that are crucial to lessening our dependency on foreign oil and keeping our economy and our country going strong,” says Rich Moskowitz, ATA vice president and regulatory affairs counsel.
MMS estimates that the federal OCS resources, which currently are off-limits, harbor 18 billion barrels of oil and 77 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, representing enough natural gas to heat 15 million households for more than 77 years and oil reserves that can produce enough energy to power more than 20 million cars and heat 956,000 households for 30 years.
