Democrats Say Oil Companies Should Lose Leases They Don’t Use

June 21 (Bloomberg) — Exxon Mobil Corp. and other oil companies should be forced to give up any offshore leases they aren’t using and not be awarded new leases, House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Nick Rahall said today.

The Democratic congressman, whose district includes coal- mining areas of West Virginia, accused the oil companies of “stockpiling” 68 million acres of federal oil and gas leases, about the size of Colorado, even as Republicans seek additional leases. He is sponsoring legislation that would force the oil companies to drill on lands already leased.

“Simply put, we are telling Big Oil to use it, or lose it,” Rahall said in the Democratic Party’s weekly radio address. “They would either have to produce from these lands, show they are being diligent in their development, or give up the right to control even more federal energy resources.”

Bloomberg