Western Hemisphere Energy Security Act of 2006 - Authorizes U.S. persons to: (1) explore and extract hydrocarbon resources from any portion of the foreign exclusive economic zone that is contiguous to the U.S. exclusive economic zone; and (2) export without license authority all equipment necessary for the exploration for or extraction of hydrocarbon resources.
Amends the Trade Sanctions Reform and Export Enhancement Act of 2000 to authorize the Secretary of the Treasury to allow under a general license employees of oil and gas producers, distributors, and shippers to travel to, from, or within Cuba to explore for and extract hydrocarbon resources from such zone.
[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2787 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
109th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 2787
To permit United States persons to participate in the exploration for
and the extraction of hydrocarbon resources from any portion of a
foreign maritime exclusive economic zone that is contiguous to the
exclusive economic zone of the United States, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
May 11, 2006
Mr. Craig (for himself, Mr. Roberts, Mr. Thune, Mr. Thomas, Mr. Dorgan,
Mr. Domenici, Mr. Enzi, Mr. Bennett, Mr. Baucus, and Mr. Burns)
introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the
Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To permit United States persons to participate in the exploration for
and the extraction of hydrocarbon resources from any portion of a
foreign maritime exclusive economic zone that is contiguous to the
exclusive economic zone of the United States, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Western Hemisphere Energy Security
Act of 2006''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
(a) Findings.--Congress finds that--
(1) the United States is the largest oil importer in the
world;
(2) the Federal Government predicts that, by 2025, 68
percent of the oil used in the United States will be imported;
(3) \2/3\ of the oil reserves of the world are located in
the politically unstable Middle East and are controlled by
members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries;
(4) global fuel consumption is projected to increase by 100
percent to 150 percent during the next 20 years, driven largely
by the Chinese and Indian economies;
(5) that increased demand for fuel--
(A) will place the United States in ever-greater
competition for oil and gas resources; and
(B) may result in an extension of Chinese
involvement in developing Cuban oil and gas reserves to
within a few miles of the coastline of the United
States;
(6) the United States adheres to the principle that, in a
case in which the exclusive economic zone of the United States
is contiguous to the exclusive economic zone of another
country, a point equidistant to the maritime baselines of the 2
countries demarcates the exclusive economic zone of each;
(7) an example of the application of the principle
described in paragraph (6) is that the exclusive economic zone
of Cuba extends to within--
(A) 52 miles of the Florida Keys at--
(i) south of 24 degrees north latitude; and
(ii) east of -81 degrees west longitude;
and
(B) 85.4 miles of the Florida peninsula at--
(i) south of 24 degrees north latitude; and
(ii) east of -81 degrees west longitude;
(8) Cubapetroleo, the state oil company of Cuba, recently--
(A) signed an oil production sharing agreement with
the China Petroleum and Chemical Corporation; and
(B) purchased 3 deep-water drilling rigs from that
Chinese state enterprise for use in the exclusive
economic zone of Cuba;
(9) the exclusive economic zone of Cuba in the Gulf of
Mexico is a 112,000-square-kilometer area that has been divided
into 59 exploration blocks, each of which is approximately
2,000 square kilometers and an average depth of 2,000 meters
(except that some of those blocks have a depth of as great as
4,000 meters);
(10) the northernmost of the exploration blocks described
in paragraph (9) are located off the southwest coast of the
State of Florida;
(11) a United States Geological Survey report entitled
``Assessment of Undiscovered Oil and Gas Resources of the North
Cuba Basin 2004'' estimated that between 1,000,000,000 and
9,300,000,000 barrels of undiscovered oil and between
1,900,000,000,000 and 22,000,000,000,000 cubic feet of
undiscovered natural gas along the northern coast of Cuba;
(12) the national security strategy of the President
recognizes the increasing resource needs of China by stating
that China is ``expanding trade, but acting as if they can
somehow lock up energy supplies around the world or seek to
direct markets rather than opening them up.'';
(13) the United States embargo on Cuba prohibits United
States persons from engaging in the exploration or extraction
of hydrocarbon resources from the exclusive economic zone of
Cuba;
(14) United States oil and gas industries are the world's
leaders in the efficient and environmentally-safe extraction of
oil and gas resources from marine deposits; and
(15) it is in the energy, national security, and
environmental interests of the United States that the oil and
gas companies of the United States be permitted to operate in
the foreign exclusive economic zones that is contiguous to the
exclusive economic zone of the United States.
(b) Purpose.--The purpose of this Act is to permit United States
persons to participate in the exploration for and the extraction of
hydrocarbon resources from any portion of a foreign maritime exclusive
economic zone that is contiguous to the exclusive economic zone of the
United States.
SEC. 3. DEFINITION OF UNITED STATES PERSON.
In this Act, the term ``United States person'' means--
(1) any United States citizen or alien lawfully admitted
for permanent residence in the United States; and
(2) any person other than an individual, if 1 or more
individuals described in paragraph (1) own or control at least
51 percent of the securities or other equity interest in the
person.
SEC. 4. AUTHORIZATION OF ACTIVITIES AND EXPORTS INVOLVING HYDROCARBON
RESOURCES BY UNITED STATES PERSONS.
Notwithstanding any other provision of law (including a
regulation), United States persons (including agents and affiliates of
those United States persons) may--
(1) engage in any transaction necessary for the exploration
for and extraction of hydrocarbon resources from any portion of
any foreign exclusive economic zone that is contiguous to the
exclusive economic zone of the United States; and
(2) export without license authority all equipment
necessary for the exploration for or extraction of hydrocarbon
resources described in paragraph (1).
SEC. 5. TRAVEL IN CONNECTION WITH AUTHORIZED HYDROCARBON EXPLORATION
AND EXTRACTION ACTIVITIES.
Section 910 of the Trade Sanctions Reform and Export Enhancement
Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 7209) is amended by inserting after subsection
(b) the following:
``(c) General License Authority for Travel-Related Expenditures by
Persons Engaging in Hydrocarbon Exploration and Extraction
Activities.--
``(1) In general.--The Secretary of the Treasury shall,
authorize under a general license the travel-related
transactions listed in section 515.560(c) of title 31, Code of
Federal Regulations, for travel to, from or within Cuba in
connection with exploration for and the extraction of
hydrocarbon resources in any part of a foreign maritime
Exclusive Economic Zone that is contiguous to the United
States' Exclusive Economic Zone.
``(2) Persons authorized.--Persons authorized to travel to
Cuba under this section include full-time employees,
executives, agents, and consultants of oil and gas producers,
distributors, and shippers.''.
<all>
Introduced in Senate
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.
Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S9862-9863)
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