JEFFREY: A crude October surprise?

COMMENTARY:

Republicans may be planning a crude surprise for Democrats this October. I mean crude in the sense that it will involve unrefined petroleum.

Since the House recessed earlier this month, Republicans have been demanding that Speaker Nancy Pelosi call it back into special session to vote on whether to allow new offshore oil-drilling. The Republicans know Mrs. Pelosi won’t do that. So, what do they really want?

Let’s start with some sense of the oil resources America could develop if Congress would allow it. In 2006, the Interior Department estimated about 85.9 billion barrels of “undiscovered technically recoverable” oil sit offshore on the Outer Continental Shelf within U.S. territory.

In 2007, the Energy Department’s “Task Force on Strategic Unconventional Fuels” reported that: “America’s oil shale resource exceeds 2 trillion barrels, including about 1.5 trillion barrels of oil equivalent in high quality shales concentrated in the Green River Formation in Colorado, Utah and Wyoming. … Depending on technology and economics, as much as 800 billion barrels of oil equivalent could be recoverable from oil shale resources yielding [more than] 25 gallons per ton.”

This combined 885.9 billion barrels of recoverable oil the government estimates lie undeveloped within U.S. territory is almost 3.5 times as much as the 260 billion barrels in proven oil reserves under Saudi territory. America is an oil-rich country.

Since 1982, however, each year’s Interior appropriation has included language forbidding Interior from selling oil-drilling leases in about 85 percent of the acreage comprising the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf. (In July, President Bush lifted an executive order- originally imposed by his father - that essentially duplicated this congressional moratorium.)

Since this fiscal year, the Interior appropriation has also included a moratorium, sponsored by Rep. Mark Udall, Colorado Democrat, that forbids Interior from issuing final regulations governing the sale of leases to develop oil shale lands. This effectively stops leases from being sold.

Because these moratoria are part of an appropriations bill that runs for only one fiscal year, they also run for one year. If not renewed by Sept. 30, they expire.

Unless Congress enacts a new law banning offshore leases and oil-shale leases, Interior can legally start selling these leases on Oct. 1. This fact was not lost on House Minority Whip Roy Blunt, Missouri Republican, when I interviewed him Aug. 7. I asked him if Mr. Bush should veto any bill that includes a moratorium.

“My view is that the president should just take the position right now that these moratoriums will end on Sept. 30 and the Democrats have to be responsible for putting them back in,” said Mr. Blunt.

“Well, the Democrats wouldn’t be responsible, congressman,” I said. “With all due respect, President Bush would have to sign the moratorium into law for it to exist.”

“And I don’t think he should do that,” said Mr. Blunt.

“So, if a bill passes Congress that has that moratorium, your belief is President Bush, your advice to him is: Mr. President, veto that bill?” I asked.

“That’s right,” said Mr. Blunt. “And my advice to him today would be to start the process up right now for what we do on Oct. 1 when this moratorium is ended and move forward assuming that there will be no moratorium after Sept. 30.”

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