WASHINGTON, June 28 (UPI) -- U.S. businesses are urging Congress to lift its moratorium on drilling for domestic natural gas.
A National Association of Manufacturers member and small business owner from Philadelphia warned the House Small Business Committee that skyrocketing natural gas prices are weakening their ability to compete globally.
Jeff Uhlenburg, president of Donovan Heat Treating Co. Inc, said Wednesday that skyrocketing prices are "inevitable" as a result of federal policies encouraging demand while also restricting domestic natural gas supplies.
"The U.S. pays the highest natural gas prices in the world," Uhlenburg said. "My prices have risen more than 600 percent since the late 1990s and, even before last year's hurricanes, the price had nearly doubled in 2005 alone."
He said it was imperative for lawmakers to allow the development of adequate and diverse domestic energy supplies in order to take "pressure" off natural gas. This particularly includes opening up the abundant oil and natural gas supplies on the Outer Continental Shelf, Uhlenburg said.
