By Brown                                              S.C.R. No. 34
         77R6795 NBH-F                           
                                CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
 1-1           WHEREAS, A strong domestic oil and gas industry is vitally
 1-2     important to the United States economy and national defense; and
 1-3           WHEREAS, This nation's domestic oil and gas production has
 1-4     decreased by 2.7 million barrels per day during the last 13 years,
 1-5     a 17 percent decline, at the same time that domestic consumption of
 1-6     oil has increased by more than 14 percent; and
 1-7           WHEREAS, Currently, the United States imports approximately
 1-8     55 percent of the oil needed for the American economy, while the
 1-9     demand for refined petroleum products is projected to increase by
1-10     more than 35 percent and the demand for natural gas is projected to
1-11     increase by more than 45 percent over the next two decades; and
1-12           WHEREAS, Much of the nation's greatest potential for future
1-13     domestic production lies in areas that are currently off limits to
1-14     oil and natural gas exploration and development, including areas
1-15     under congressional or presidential moratoria in the federal Outer
1-16     Continental Shelf (OCS), where vast amounts of oil and natural gas
1-17     may be available for extraction; and
1-18           WHEREAS, For the first time since 1988, the Minerals
1-19     Management Service, a bureau of the U.S. Department of the Interior
1-20     that manages the nation's oil, gas, and other mineral resources in
1-21     the OCS, has proposed an OCS lease sale for the eastern Gulf of
1-22     Mexico, in the portion of the Gulf 100 miles southwest of the
1-23     Florida Panhandle and 15 miles south of the Alabama coastline; the
1-24     bureau's tentative schedule calls for bid opening and reading in
 2-1     December 2001; and
 2-2           WHEREAS, The oil and gas industry has demonstrated that it
 2-3     can be a good steward of the environment while operating in the
 2-4     Gulf of Mexico; and
 2-5           WHEREAS, Oil and gas production from this area of the Gulf of
 2-6     Mexico would help offset current domestic energy production
 2-7     declines and assist the nation in meeting future energy demand; and
 2-8           WHEREAS, Numerous positive economic benefits for the State of
 2-9     Texas have been created by oil and gas industry activities in the
2-10     Gulf, and many of the exploration and production companies that
2-11     would participate in the OCS Lease Sale 181 are headquartered in
2-12     Texas as are many of the oil field supply and service companies
2-13     that would benefit by increased activities; and
2-14           WHEREAS, The economic benefits that would result from oil and
2-15     natural gas exploration, development, and production of leases
2-16     acquired in OCS Lease Sale 181 would continue to benefit the State
2-17     of Texas and all the states bordering the Gulf of Mexico; now,
2-18     therefore, be it
2-19           RESOLVED, That the 77th Legislature of the State of Texas
2-20     hereby declare support for the Minerals Management Service plan to
2-21     proceed with the Outer Continental Shelf Lease Sale 181 for the
2-22     eastern Gulf of Mexico scheduled for December 5, 2001; and, be it
2-23     further
2-24           RESOLVED, That the Texas secretary of state forward official
2-25     copies of this resolution to the director of the Minerals
2-26     Management Service, to the secretary of the interior, to the
2-27     president of the United States, to the speaker of the house of
 3-1     representatives and the president of the senate of the United
 3-2     States Congress, and to all members of the Texas delegation to the
 3-3     Congress of the United States of America.