Bill backs natural gas vehicles in U.S.

WASHINGTON, April 12 (UPI) -- Now is the time for the U.S. consumer to take advantage of domestic resources and start using natural gas vehicles, two lawmakers urged.

Shale deposits are considered an emerging energy resource for the United States. T. Boone Pickens, a Texas oil magnate, said abundant gas reserves in the United States made the country the "Saudi Arabia of natural gas."

The U.S. Energy Information Agency said in its 2011 outlook that it projects technically recoverable unproven shale gas reserves sit at 827 trillion cubic feet, 474 trillion cf larger than the previous year's outlook.

U.S. Reps. John Larson, D-Conn., and John Sullivan, R-Okla., introduced a bill that would use tax credits to promote the use of natural gas-powered vehicles.

"The time is right," Larson told the Platts news service.

Sullivan, for his part, added that there is enough natural gas in the United States to meet all of the needs in the electricity and transportation sector.

Gasoline prices in many U.S. markets passed $4 per gallon amid unrest in Libya and the onset of the summer driving season. Sullivan added that the United States spends at least $1.5 billion every day to buy oil from foreign sources "and that needs to stop."