Hill Tells Oil Industry to "Use It Or Lose It" With DRILL Act Vote

Advertisement

(WASHINGTON, D.C.) - In what could be seen as a poke in the eye of oil executives and certain Republican politicians, including his Jeffersonville opponent Mike Sodrel, Congressman Baron Hill has put his weight behind the DRILL Act in Congress.

Controversy has been spreading about whether or not to open more surface and coastal lands to domestic drilling, however, the drill act tells companies to drill on what land they do have, or face losing those leases.

The DRILL Act's "Use It or Lose It" clause says oil companies stand to lose leases held on lands they're not using, so they could be re-leased to other companies that will drill there.

Additionally, it calls for the secretary of the interior to open up more leases in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska, not to be confused with the Alaskan National Wildlife Refuge which has been a subject of deep controversy.

ANWR, as it's called, will play host to a number of Republican congressional challengers, including Sodrel, who claim opening it up would help solve America's energy problems.

And while Democrats in Congress say the oil industry should drill on what they have first, oil companies say some of those areas are very difficult to produce in.

However, there's been no data released as to what exploration has been conducted in those unused areas.

Print this story