S.Amdt. 911

SA 911. Mr. INHOFE (for himself and Mr. Cornyn) submitted an amendment intended to be proposed by him to the bill H.R. 6, to ensure jobs for our future with secure, affordable, and reliable energy; which was ordered to lie on the table; as follows:

On page 523, between line 13 and 14, insert the following:

SEC. 95__. HEAVY OIL RESEARCH, DEVELOPMENT, AND DEMONSTRATION.

(a) Findings.--Congress finds that--

(1) the continued imbalance between the oil consumption and conventional crude oil reserves of the United States has resulted in unacceptable dependency on foreign oil supplies;

(2) national energy security requires rapid development of alternative hydrocarbon resources that are both commercially recoverable and compatible with the infrastructure for petroleum processing, distribution, and use in existence as of the date of enactment of this Act;

(3) the Western Hemisphere contains the largest resources of heavy oil and natural bitumen in the world, but no in-depth assessment of domestic heavy oil has been completed since 1987;

(4) an up-to-date, in-depth assessment of domestic heavy oil would be of high value to energy policymakers and industry and could provide insights into formulation of policies, initiatives, and technology for more efficient development of that large domestic resource;

(5) resources of heavy oil and bitumen in the United States and Canada known as of the date of enactment of this Act alone could supply crude oil demand in both countries for well over 100 years;

(6) the States of Alabama, Alaska, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas, and Utah have significant deposits of heavy oil and bitumen;

(7) emerging technologies for in situ production of heavy oil and bitumen have been verified experimentally in both Canada and the United States and have been employed successfully in the field in Canada;

(8) Canadian operations have received substantial government subsidies and United States production should receive similar financial support;

(9) potential environmental impacts from in situ production of heavy oil and bitumen appear more manageable than impacts from other processes for unconventional oil extraction;

(10) testing as of the date of enactment of this Act indicates that in some cases, heavy hydrocarbon production technologies can be combined with cogeneration facilities to reduce recovery costs and produce electricity economically; and

(11) current testing indicates that emerging acoustic agglomeration technologies are capable of converting heavy oil production and refinery wastes into materials capable of use in recycling, production, or refining processes, or other reuse to produce electricity, thermal energy, chemicals, liquid fuels, or hydrogen.

(b) Program.--

(1) In general.--The Secretary shall establish a program for research, development, and commercial demonstration of technologies for in situ production of heavy oil and natural bitumen.

(2) Assessment.--In carrying out the program, the Secretary shall first update the technical and economic assessment of domestic heavy oil resources prepared in 1987 by the Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission to cover--

(A) the entire continent of North America; and

(B) all unconventional oil resources, including heavy oil, tar sands, and oil shale.

(c) Administration.--The program shall--

(1) focus initially on technologies and domestic resources most likely to result in significant commercial production in the near future, including technologies that combine heavy oil recovery with electric power generation; and

(2) include research necessary--

(A) to ensure that refinery processes are capable of providing conventional petroleum products from the crude oils derived from heavy oil and bitumen production; and

(B) to assist in recycling and reuse of associated production and refinery wastes.

(d) Cost Sharing.--Cost sharing shall not be required under the program.

(e) Authorization of Appropriations.--

(1) In general.--There is authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary to carry out this section $50,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2006 through 2010.

(2) Assessment set-aside.--Of the amount authorized to be applied under paragraph (1) for fiscal year 2006, $1,000,000 shall be provided to the Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission for use in updating and expanding the assessment described in subsection (b)(2).