Oil drilling bills are hot in Congress but passage unlikely Drilling takes center stage on Capitol Hill

Ideas galore, but an energy bill seems unlikely to make it out alive

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev. Photo: Jae C. Hong, AP Photo: Jae C. Hong, AP Image 1 of / 3 Caption Close Oil drilling bills are hot in Congress but passage unlikely 1 / 3 Back to Gallery

WASHINGTON — Drill, drill, drill.

Suddenly, oil and gas exploration is all the rage on Capitol Hill.

With energy prices a red-hot political issue, the Democratic-controlled Congress, in the midst of its final, three-week legislative sprint before the presidential elections, can't get enough of drilling bills.

Not that most Capitol Hill watchers seriously believe that — in the absence of a major supply disruption — any substantive energy legislation will actually emerge from this frenzy and become law.

"You don't pass energy bills in the heat of the campaign season," noted Frank Maisano, an energy specialist with Bracewell & Giuliani. Still, there should be plenty of action.

Today, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., is expected to unveil an energy package that would open new areas offshore to oil and gas drilling, with plans to bring the bill to the floor for a vote as early as this week.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., has declared next week "Energy Week" in the Senate, with votes on a series of drilling amendments possible.

Drilling gains traction

Republicans are widely viewed in this town as having gained some real political traction with their calls for expanded drilling.

GOP presidential nominee John McCain has been crisscrossing the country calling on the U.S. to "drill here ... drill now." Delegates to the Republican convention were chanting "Drill, baby, drill," while President Bush, during his Saturday radio address, all but goaded Democratic leaders for having "ignored the public's demand for relief from high energy prices.

"This is their final chance to take action before the November elections," Bush said. "If members of Congress do not support the American people at the gas pump, then they should not expect the American people to support them at the ballot box."

House Republicans were out on the Capitol west front steps Monday, touting what they call an "All of the Above" energy strategy, which would open the federal waters offshore and the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to drilling, while encouraging development of oil shale and pushing for construction of new refineries.

The GOP news conference, however, was all but drowned out by environmental activists chanting, "Spill, baby, spill."

Hoping to snatch back some of the political ground lost to Republicans, House Democrats — in a significant policy shift — are expected to unveil a bill that would allow coastal states to decide whether to allow drilling in the federal waters off their shores.

That potentially could pave the way for drilling off Virginia, Georgia and the Carolinas — all areas that have expressed at least some interest in drilling.

Gulf proposal

Next week, Senate Energy Committee Chairman Jeff Bingaman , D-N.M., and Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus , D-Mont., will push a proposal to open portions of the eastern Gulf of Mexico — an area oil and gas producers are most intent on exploring — as well as other offshore areas to drilling, Bingaman said.

Last month, a bipartisan group of senators calling itself the Gang of 10 proposed its own plan to open new areas in the eastern Gulf of Mexico and southeast Atlantic to oil and gas drilling. That group, which has expanded to become the Gang of 16 and could swell to the Gang of 22, will be championing its own package. And Reid has promised to allow Republicans to bring their own drilling measure up for a vote.

But passage of a drilling bill remains highly uncertain.

Energy legislation, by necessity, must be written in a collaborative fashion, Maisano argued. "And we're not in a collaborative time right now."

The House Democratic package, for instance, is expected to hit the oil companies up with higher taxes, but Bush has threatened to veto previous bills that included similar language.

The plan also is likely to require electric utilities to generate a portion of their power using renewable sources like wind and solar. That provision faces opposition from Southern lawmakers.

House Republicans already are complaining about Democrats crafting an energy bill without their input.

"My guess is we're going to vote against everything they throw up until we get a process that's open and fair," said Rep. Joe Barton of Ennis, the ranking Republican on the House Energy and Natural Resources Committee.

Time for showdown?

The whole energy debate may be headed toward a high-stakes showdown at month's end, when lawmakers will have to vote on a resolution to continue funding the federal government during the next fiscal year, which begins Oct. 1.

Republicans are threatening to oppose that resolution — and possibly shut down the federal government — unless Democrats agree to drop a congressional moratorium that bars oil and gas producers from drilling in most of the federal waters offshore. Bush lifted a similar presidential ban back in July.

Two variables, however, could upset the calculus of the debate — Hurricane Ike and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, noted Kevin Book, an energy policy analyst with FBR Capital Markets.

If Ike were to inflict the kind of damage on the nation's energy infrastructure Katrina and Rita did three years ago and send gasoline prices soaring, the political support for expanded offshore drilling could change quickly.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission, meanwhile, has been examining why oil prices spiked so high this year. And an agency official is scheduled to testify on Capitol Hill Thursday. If the agency were to uncover real evidence of market manipulation, that could spark its own congressional stampede, Book noted.

david.ivanovich@chron.com