DOHA, Qatar, Dec. 7 (UPI) -- Energy companies need to get back to work in the Gulf of Mexico to spur economic recovery, an oil advocate said from Qatar.
Washington in October 2010 lifted a moratorium on drilling in the Gulf of Mexico. The ban was enacted after an explosion at a BP oil rig in April 2010 killed 11 workers and led to a massive oil spill.
In October, U.S. Interior Department Secretary Ken Salazar and Bureau of Ocean Energy Management Director Tommy Beaudreau announced the BOEM would have a sale for oil and natural gas leases in the Gulf of Mexico next week in New Orleans.
Jack Gerard, president and chief executive officer at the American Petroleum Institute, told delegates at the World Energy Congress in Doha, Qatar, that U.S. regulators aren't moving fast enough, however.
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"The first offshore lease sale in more than a year scheduled for next week is a positive step," he said in his remarks. "But, the pace of government permitting is creating regulatory uncertainty and delaying our ability to produce the energy America needs to fuel its economy."
The lease sale encompasses more than 21 million acres believed to hold as much as 423 million barrels of oil and possibly more than 2.5 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.
Gerard said new leases could generate "billions of dollars in government revenue" in just seven years if energy companies are allowed to rush into the gulf.
U.S. lawmakers are meeting this week with Latin American and Caribbean governments to assess the safety of offshore oil and natural gas operations.
