Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D-New Mexico) has filed an amendment to the Democrat “No Energy” bill to force energy companies that currently own oil and natural gas leases to either “use it or lose it.” This rhetoric may make people think Democrats are getting tough on oil companies, but the truth is the federal government is getting in the way of companies who are trying to reduce America’s dependence on foreign oil.
What Bingaman doesn’t want people to know is that after a company buys a lease, it still needs to get a permit to drill (APD) from the Bureau of Land Management for each hole a company wants to drill. While the permit process should take no more than 120 days, it often takes months and sometimes even years for the federal bureaucracy to complete a single permit. Meanwhile, extreme environmental groups bring frivolous lawsuits against the company to prevent it from drilling.
The chart below shows that since 2000 the number of wells started and wells completed has doubled, proving that energy companies are moving as the federal bureaucracy will allow them.
The senator's “use-it-or-lose-it” amendment does nothing to address the real problems that delay bringing more American energy to market. If Democrats ever allow senators to offer amendments during this debate, I will seek to offer an amendment ensuring that energy companies are not punished because of bureaucratic red tape or frivolous lawsuits. Without this provision, Americans will lose even more access to their energy reserves.
| Year | APDs approved | Wells Started | Wells Completed |
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| 2007 | 7,124 | 5,343 | 4,640 | | 2006 | 6,738 | 4,708 | 3,693 | | 2004 | 6,051 | 3,696 | 2,384 | | 2003 | 3,759 | 2,878 | 1,105 | | 2002 | 3,727 | 2,772 | 2,922 | | 2001 | 3,863 | 3,114 | 2,741 | | 2000 | 3,413 | 2,623 | 2,341 |
Source: Bureau of Land Management
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