Senator Lisa Murkowski, D-A, spoke about the Biden administration’s approach to the oil and gas industry on Friday, March 11, 2022 at the CERAWeek conference in Houston.
Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski, Alaska, said Friday that the Biden administration is sending “important” signals that it may be open to loosening its energy policy but needs to implement it to achieve real output growth.
“The statement from the Energy Secretary that we need to produce more right now is a good first step,” Murkowski said. “But they have to remember that the reason… we are not producing more right now is because this administration has given the wrong signal for a year and three months. They were sending a signal that is just the opposite of that.”
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Murkowski added: “So if you’re an investor, if you’re a producer, you look at this and say, ‘Is this… just one secretary who made a statement today? I mean, if I opt out of this, will they really stick to this program? How risky is that?
Sen. Lisa Murkowski, Republican of Alaska, speaks at S&P Global’s 2022 CERAWeek conference in Houston, Friday, March 11, 2022. (F. Carter Smith/Bloomberg via Getty Images / Getty Images)
Murkowski was referring to Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm’s comment on Wednesday at CERAWeek by S&P Global Energy.
In her speech, Granholm said the US is at “martial law” on energy due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the spike in energy prices. She asked the conference ballroom full of energy executives to “start making more right now.”
“In this moment of crisis, we need more supplies,” Granholm said.
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This tone has led some energy experts to be cautiously optimistic that the Biden administration may move towards policies that are more lenient on energy development in the United States. But Murkowski said one speech couldn’t make up for more than a year of politics.
And she added, with increasing glee, that the administration needed to provide stability for the industry to develop over the long term.
“They must not only change the message, they must give confidence … that this will actually take place,” she said.
“The president should stand up and not only say this, but also point out to his home secretary: where is this five-year plan? Direct Secretary Grenholm: Get these LNG export permits out the door,” Murkowski said. “Let’s move on. So let’s just not talk at the energy conference.”
Oil well equipment on the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation near New Town, North Dakota. (Tyler Olson/FOX Business)
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Murkowski also dealt an obvious blow to White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki, who earlier this week questioned why there are thousands of unused oil and gas permits if there really is a desire to increase oil production.
“Reality check for those who are not familiar with… how you extract oil: Just because you have a lease does not mean there is oil under that floor,” she said. “Maybe they have permission, or maybe there is nothing there. There is probably a good reason why they are not moving forward. Or maybe a good reason is that the next permit is not issued by the department.”
President Biden speaks at the White House State Dining Room on Monday, March 15, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky/AP Images)
“Or maybe they just decided that even though something went through the process… they need to reopen it. We need to look at it again. So they can do a lot,” the senator added.
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The CERAWeek conference took place at a key time, about two weeks after Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine began. This has shifted the discussion from alternative energy to energy security, even if that means using fossil fuels.
“I think the word is transition, and transitions unfold over a long period of time,” Daniel Yergin, IHS Markit vice chairman and CERAWeek host, told FOX Business of the conference lesson.
He added: “The notion that you can do everything in 28 years and half in eight years means you forget that the $90 trillion global economy gets 80% of its energy from hydrocarbons.”