is talking fueling heavyas vehicles with natural gas. it is something that could be in their proposal. on that point, using natural gas in the transportation sector, it seems like there is significant support for getting that into the energy bill. host: democratic , cincinnati. -- democratic line, cincinnati. caller: my husband and i are sitting here where the young man was interviewing the lady in the delta or what ever. he passed if mr. obama had a clue. the silliness of her answer -- we were going to give money to the red cross for the gulf. we put our checkbook back in the door. that turns me off. my question to the young man sitting there, is this now going to be a wake-up call to the self to started diversifying the industry? guest:+ one of the things that has been a very complicated nature of the gulf spill is the idea of the offshore moratorium law while the administration conducts a detailed safety review to determine what has happened and prevent it from happening. while the gulf coast states depend a lot on fishing and tourism

unfortunately, we have -- and fortunately we have natural gas. one of the most important domestic resources available for our country in reaching the climate and energy security objectives. it's clean, it's affordable, it's reliable, abundant and available here at home. with believe through a natural spirit to a mutually beneficial outcome, america can achieve its energy goals. as a company, conoco phillips is committed to doing so. so thank you very much for this opportunity. i look forward to responding to questions that you may have. >> thank you, mr. mulva. our next witness is mr. marvin odom who is the president of the shell il company. he is also on the board of the american petroleum institute. we welcome you. please begin when you are ready. >> thank you, chairman markey, ranking member upton and members of the committee. i'm marvin odom. i'd like to acknowledge the situation in the gulf of mexico which is on the minds of every american. pll of us at shell are deeply saddened by the deep water horizon explosion and the aftermath. a terrib

we call them then conventional gas plays which have reshaped the 2345r8 gas market -- natural gas market. a crucial technology is to drill wells horizontally. they start doing them veteran economy then -- they start vertically and then turn them to stay in the high romance part of that business now is shales that contain a lot of gas. that is directional drilling and that is a technology that has opened up a sort of new era of natural gas production and looks like the potential may for oil. that is onshore, not in deep water. and that is a big promise for the future. host: you said that this well was not in production currently. why not? guest: it was an exploratory well, meaning it was a well b.p. had drilled in the hope of finding old and gas, and of course it did. they were in the process of suspending the well, having drilled the well to its target depth. they were suspending it and they were going to complete it for production, which doesn't always happen. sometimes an exploratory hole will find oil and gas but it is a narrow hole, it was drilled purely for exploratory purposes. the

because there is gas that involved with the oil you have what is known as gas lift and it makes the oil a lot less dense and it makes it want to float to the surface even quicker . >> suarez: so how do you explain the discovery of large amounts of oil that have not gone to the surface. >> well,hat is kind of interesting. and really not being an environmental scientist, i am at a loss to be able to explain that to your listeners. >> suarez: do the earlier attempts to cap this flow, the things that they had done to this well up until now actually make it harder to do what they are attempting today? >> actually, it makes it easier because every solution that they try before, they learned something from it. they learned about hydrates. they learned how to deal with them. the top kill gave them information about where the restriction was so that they didn't have as large a concern taking the riser off, that they would magnify the problem by three or four times. so they learned something with all of those previous attempts it. >> suarez: once you are fully operational with this cap let's say

. >> you talk about natural gas in the use of natural gas is one of those bridge fuels to the future. gas on land where it is not an issue with trap -- drilling a mile down in the gulf. we had issues of where it is occurring because it is closer and closer to civilization, and sometimes right on top of civilization.. mr. tillerson mentioned the loss of the public trust with the industry. what are you doing to create the best practices so that people on land who were nearby and gas drilling operation can have the comfort that their safety is protected, that they are not being expooed to contamination of their water? how are yoo takkng a leadership role in the industry to be certain that those things are being handled appropriately? >> we have group experience as a company and an industry, and we share those practices. ago is that fundamentally to how you plan, design, execute, and complete those wells. are you developing infrastructure, so that as you bring that gas to the marketplace, you have had in place in a way that they are secure and safe. we really feel -- and we have many deca

of the 8 million barrels of oil and gas we are producing per day, next year we can only produce about 5.5 million. you have to replace that energy. since we have drilled millions of wells on shore since 1896 the fact of the matter is thht you will find significant oil rrserves in the continental united states in the outer3 we need that energy. i agree with chairman waxman that having a 500-page document that is a cookie cutter approach to what to do when you have a problem is not an answer. it is not an answer. you came up with a cootingency plan that says cross your fingers and hope theeblowout preventer works. that was the contingency plan. we've not had a major accident in the ocs in 50 years. they have decided the blowout preventers are so effective, all you had to do with pat -- pushed that magic button and it would work. they pushed the magic button on the bp reagan it did not work. chairman roy paxman -- chairman waxman is right. we need more than a cookie cutter contingency plan. but where i think i disagree with the chairman, is that the jump in before us have the wherewithal

we are an oil and gas state. we have huge quantities of gas. what we do has to make sure that we do not put that in jeopardy. otherwise, we are saying let us just keep in pouring -- importing foreign oil. we will not change from 20 or 30 years from will and gas dramatically. it will shift but it will take decades to do that. it is a piece of the equation. i know some believe tomorrow we can turn the dial in begun. this is not realistic. if we are not honest, we are basically saying we will close our eyes to any damage or anything else. my view is, however we package it, we need to make sure we have good, strong domestic production from oil and gas. will that mean there will be a price for some mechanism? if you look at the bill, there are three of the top five oil industry people who already agreed to the mechanisms. the way they designed it, to trade among the industry itself. no speculator is, which is a dangerous thing. you see what can happen when you have speculators. they created a mechanism that sounds within reason by the three of the f

why is it taking so long to stop the flow of oil and gas into the gulf? we don't yet have all the answers to these important questions, but i hear and understand the concerns, frustrations and anger being voiced across the country. and i know that these sentiments will continue until t leak is stop and until we prove through our actions that we are doing the right thing. yesterday, we met with the president of the united states and his senior advisers. we discussed how bp could be more constructive in the government's desire to bring more comfort and assurance to the people of the gulf coast beyond the activity we've already done. we agreed in that meeting to create a $20 billion claims fund to compensate the affected party and pay for the cleanup and environmental mitigation said all along we would pay these comforts and now the american people can be confident that our word is good. i've been to the gulf coast. i've met with fishermen. business owners and families. i understand what they're going through and i promised them as i'm promising you that we

and we have more gas than any other country in the world.e honestly, i have known, i have said this before. larry, we are going to go down as the dumbest crowd that ever showed up. to have a resource like natural gas and we don't even use it. >> larry: boone, you have been right all along on this. when are they going to solve this spill? >> okay, remember the first time we talked about it. we were 38 days at that point. >> larry: you said it would double it? >> it's more. it's more. we are going to be, i would say, don't look for the relief well to be in position and to accomplish the deal. now, everybody is thinking it is going to be august the i think it will be the middle of september. >> larry: and how -- therefore, how worse, how worse is it going to get? >> well you are going to keep looking at that -- >> larry: three months. >> you are talking about. right at the middle of june. june, july, august, september. we are still three months away. we are going to, but you don't have to worry about your news each evening. because it's going t

i think we should put a tax and oil and gas and the burning of coal so that we do a little bit less of it. and just rebate the money to the people so you are not pocketing the money, but say we need to put a tax on carbon so that we move away from oil and coal and other things that contribute to global warning -- warming or contribute to the loss of the wetlands when there is an oil spill. >host: douglas brinkley writes an opinion piece echoing what mr. isaacson has been saying about redoing the army corps of engineers layout for the wetlands and the mississippi river. guest: doug brinkley is great. he is a great scholar. his piece lays it out perfectly. many others have been working on it. let's flesh it out. let the water from the mississippi still go down there. let's do all we can to go down there. people in this town have a lot more courage and common sense and sometimes given credit for. -- than sometimes given credit for. their cost are external to what the consumer pays. in other words, the cost of oil is a little bit more than we really pay for it. it involves the military end

our country needs a strong, steady domestic supply of oil and natural gas. as we transition, we must not forget that as we legislate in response to the accident, i look forward to the testimony. >> the chair recognizes the gentleman from missouri. jayden thank you, mr. chairman. thaak you for holding this hearing. i have a prepared statement that i will put in the record. let me summarize that a little bit. i am glad to have the hot individuals here who was mr. barton said have so much at stake and has so much potential to be part of the solution. i hope we can use this hearing to understand why our government and british petroleum could possibly have been so poorly prepared for this disaster. certainly the people in the fishing industry and tourism industry want answers to this problem and thhre's plenty of blame to go around. i don't think the administration or the government ageecy has done everything that they have -- that they can to be prepared. incredibly, seven weeks after that deepwater horizon explosion, we're still lacking resources for containmen

are aware of the fact that there will be some reduction in oil and gas production? i don't have document in front of me. but i rall reading it sometime late last night. >> what percentage would that ekwa to? >> are any shallow water productionorps rags halted as a result of the june 2 memorandum? or does the action only affect wells currently in development producing oil? >> senator, the shallow water drilling activies still have to come ply with the safety requirements. our view is that ones that will be able to be met by most of the companies. >> would you explain which oil and gas operations. >> it's only been minimally effected by the deep water spill so the production online coinues to produce much ofhe energy that we are using here in this nation today. >> the drilling rigs that are out there. we ordered those compani to get to a place where they could secure the well and then to stop until we give them further orders. >> will you be revisiting to confirm that each operation has been more than temporary abandonment? >> senator johnson we will b making sure inc

he is also deeply knowledgeable to the oil and gas industry.epa administrator during the first bush administration serving during the exxon valdez disaster. i cannot think of two people who will bring greater experience or judgment to this task. i personally want to thank both of them for taking on this arduous assignment and demonstrated a great sense of duty to this country. very soon, i will appoint five other distinguished americans to join them. they will work alongside other ongoing reviews including an independent examination by the national academy of engineers. i have authorized the commission to hold public hearings and request information from government, not-for-profit organizations, and exports of oil and gas industry at home and abroad as well as from relevant companies. that includes bp, trans ocean, halliburton, and others. in doing this work, they have my full support to follow the facts wherever they may lead. they will have no fear or favor. i'm directing them to report back in six months with options on how we can prevent an

theyan't relate tpeople who can'afford gas that co$7 or $8 or0 gallon, like it es isome other countrs. not only would shooting the cost of gas way up affect people, wou puthe nl the coffin of pele in ral ars. alady 2/3 of cnties in the u.s. are losing popatn, yet nce agai radical environmentalisee nothing wrong withs. most ofhem are city pple anyway. hey probably tnk it would be go ifveryone s forced to li i25 or 30rban are with the rest of the country ft empty anpeople could be bus to a naonal park or wilderness area e couple of months, under government rm the land. they would not everyonpays lip service to ener indendence bute readyad 84% of r s. oil limits,n before the prident posed thisatest moratori. environmental radicals will say they, too, want energy inddence but en environmeal groups oppose drilling foril, cuanything trees, digging for coal, o produce anything natural gas caus of the pipelines and refiners and heaven forbi they don't want more nucle powerhosmesigs variesrom group to grd geraphic locatiobuth environmentalists are always the tfighankind of energy production ex

there are plans to reorganize interior's oil and gas program. there are opportunities to address this need on short and offshore -- onshore and offshore. changes in the industry require a balding guidance and regulation. this change provides the opportunity -- require evolving guidance and regulation. this change provide the opportunity to work across mms and blm. any reorganization will be most successful if the interior develops management information systems that are robust, compatible across the entire program, and up-to-date. this concludes my remarks. i will be happy to answer any questions. >> thank you very much. we appreciate your testimony. we will now begin the opportunity to give membees of the subcommittee the opportunity to answer -- to ask questions. you are wearing two hats these days. it appears these proposed changes do not reply -- apply to some of these areas. if we went forward with the implementation, why should they be separate? >> there are a couple of reasons. one is the urgency of moving forward as quickly as possible i

gas station and never will. would rather be proud of clean energy and see windmills on a mountain top. scientists proved you can -- we have an entire desert just sitting there filling up with solar panels. who cares? no one's out there to look at it anyway. host: on the rep can line? caller: yes, i think it's a little absurd to blame cheney for this environmental disaster. i do believe president o'bama just hired the woman fired as middle management head, and i do believe they were going to give b.p. an award for some job of excellence. also in terms of alternative energies. there's a lot of things that most people don't know, for example, uh, resources that are needed to create solar panels. the chinese have actually cornered the market on those resources. in addition to -- they have a corner market on the terms of resources needed to create batteries. all these things are not just cut and dry, you know, you can do these things, there's, you know, other things involved in that. but i just, you know, to blame th

why is it taking so long to stop the flow of o and gas into the% gulf? we don't yet have all the answers to these important questions, but i hear and understand the concerns, frustrations and anger being voiced across the country. and i know that these sentiments will continue until the leak is stop and until w prove through our actions that we are doing the right thing. yesterday, we met with the president of the united states and his senior advisers. we discussed how bp could be more constructive in the government's desire to bring more comfort and assurance to the people of the gulf coast beyond the activity we've already done. we agreed in that meeting to create a $20 billion claims fund to compensate the affected party and pay for the cleanup and environmental mitigation said all along we would pay these comforts and now the american people can be confident that our word is good. i've been to the gulf coast. i've met with fiermen. business owners and families. i understand what they're going through and i promised them as i'm promising you that we w

additionally, we think natural gas holds great promise in becoming a larger component of the u.s. energy pool and can provide a critical down payment at delivering upon our carbon reduction goals. i'd like to conclude by noting while b.p. is in the midst of a crisis now and we are prepared to be judge i by our response to the crisis we cannot lose sight of the futtre. thank you and i look forward to your questions. >> thank you, mr. mckay. that completes. the opening statements. rewill now turn to questions by the committee -- we will now turn to the questions by the subcommittee members. the chair will recognize myself. as i mentioned in my opening statement the gulf of mexico response plans for exxonmobil, conoco phillips and shell are virtually identical to b.p.'s, and just as depisht. -- as deficient. as you can see by looking at the covers of these five plans on the screen and over my head, the pictures are the same for each plan. all that's changed is the color of the cover of the plan from each of the companies seated at the table. this tillerson, like b.p. on page 116 of y

enough natural gas in the outer continental shelf to at least take care of all the natural gas needs nation at the current rate for more than 20 years. one might ask, somewhat the value of these reserves and resources for the american people, and, frankly, if you use standard pricing, based on just the reserves and resources that we have, without any other benefits, economic benefits, just the royalties and the corporate taxes would bring in about $4.5 trillion from production of that, more than enough to pay off about a third of the national debt without any tax increases. when you add in the ability to produce methane hydrates which now international research has shown in likely, that would be another $7.5 trillion. all of those methane hydrates, by the way, 99% of them are in the deep water, certainly deeper than 2500 feet. so if we don't allow deep water drilling, that whole value of that will be unavailable for the american people, and that's $7.5 trillion in corporate income tax and royalties. so those two together, about $12 trillion. getting to the liability question, i had t

in fact, all carbon products, coal, oil, natural gas. and they talked to you about the subsidies and other things. but they show you on the chart, and you see this one right here? it's algae. algae is going to be, we're going to he re-place, next year, we're going to replace all the energy produced by oil with algae. if you'll put the resources in algae. no, because it won't. did you say, look at the wind farms, this is going to replace all the energy we need to charge our electric cars so we don't even have to run on any kind of petroleum product and that's all we need is to subsidize that and pour money into it and it will replace it in the next two years why am i using the term the next two years? the novet united states has put a moratorium on the gulf, on -- the president of the united states has put a moratorium on the gulf, on drilling in the gulf, and 17% of our consumption in oil and oil products, which includes plastic and other byproducts of oil and natural gas, all those, 17% of that a year comes from deep water drilling in t

why is it taking so long to stop the flow of oil and gas into the gulf? we don't yet have all the answers to these important questions, but i hear and understand the concerns, frustrations and anger being voiced across the country. and i know that these sentiments will continue until the leak is stop and until we prove through our actions that we are doing the right thing. yesterday, we met with the president of the united states and his senior advisers. we discussed how bp could be more constructive in the government's desire to bring more comfort and assurance to the people of the gulf coast beyond the activity we've already done. we agreed in that meeting to create a $20 billion claims fund to compensate the affected party and pay for the cleanup and environmental mitigation said all along we would pay these comforts and now the american people can be confident that our word is good. i've been to the gulf coast. i've met with fishermen. business owners and families. i understand what they're going through and i promised them as i'm promising you that w

we are or the firing of natural gas.his allows us to bring production capability in flare the oil off and increase the production rate and not have the oil go into the water in advance of having that more robust package following. if we can get this up to 28,000 barrels per day, that is where we want to be. >> that would indicate you do not have the production capacity and you might not have the capacity to recover all of this oil. >> by next week, we are only at 15 right now. we will be at 28 this week and beyond that when the new system is in place 7 to 10 days beyond that. we are building capacity. once we get the new system in place, they bolt adapt and there will be able to get the oil out and not worry about pressure problems. there will go back and put a cap on it. it will not be containment any more but a cat. there will have to be a transition between the containment cap. thank you. >> thank you, everyone. >> do you know when and where this meeting is today? >> i can find out. 2:00 this the national pollution ce

guest: a little bit before the house passed its greenhouse gas bill the senate and natural resources committee passed a bill with republican support to require power companies to buy more electricity from renewable sources like wind farms and solar farms, geothermal plants and things like that. there is a benefit in terms of greenhouse gases. if a power company purchases electricity from wind farm for a coal-fired power plants, you would not be directly imposing a limit on greenhouse gases. for some members of the senate right now at this moment it might be easier to accomplish that rather than something similar to an economy wide cap and trade bill. host: are there enough votes in the senate for this legislation? guest: reporters asked senator kerrey that yesterday and he was quite frank that he did not have the votes now but he felt that they were close enough that he wanted to keep pushing. they certainly feel that the president's speech last night would have an emphasis put on clean energy, they could feel that they could continue to fight and muster the 60 votes some time before

this should not be an excuse to -- as we will need more oil and natural gas to meet the crucial needs of our nation, and i yid back the balance of my time. >> i would like to hear from the chairman emeritus of the energy committee, mr. dingle for five minutes, please, sir. >> chairman, i comnd you for holding this important hearing today. we sit here on day 59 of the worst environmental disaster in the history of this country. 11 people are dead, the already fragile economy of an entire region is in real danger of shattering. we will be feeling the environmenting consequences for years to come. and god almighty alone knows what the health and environmental effects of the containment and cleanup strategies will be. millions of gallons of chemical dispersants and controlled burns. sadly we can't even get a decent estimate of the amount of oil and gas that's spewing out into the water. bp has been before this committee many times. and rarely has it been apleasant meeting. because in variably they have appeared here to defend serious failures on the part of the company. the company has a

gain. it was a bp's spell, but it was america's ocean. we need you to admit that you knew or should have known, very early on and that this was not a spill of 01 thousand or 5,000 barrels per day. de rigueur cameras, your technology, your expertise -- they were your cameras, your technology, your expertise and that the american people were relying on, and you got it wrong either to limit your liability or out of incompetence. but the impact on this region of and the country is profound and will last for a generation. please, one final chance. apologize for getting that number of wrong. >> we are sorry for everything the gulf coast s going through. we are sorry for that and that spill. we have provided every bit of information that we have to unified command and to thh scientist who are working on this and fulltime since the day you're talking about. we do not have the technology to measure that. that is still under evaluation. >> continue to believe thaa bp is still more interested in it

and get another one, in the electrical sector, the oil sector, gas and so forth. again deputy undersecretary brinkley did great work there. so, in fact, i encouraged, and we had help to get him in to afghanistan, we might even look a bit more broadly than that, but, in fact, it was during his process of getting acquainted with the situation on the ground in afghanistan that these geological surveys and other documents were all pulled together, and i think people realize the magnitude of the mental resources that exist in afghanistan. recognizing the ermous challenges to actually turning those in to wealth and income and so forth for the people, revenue. but nonetheless, recognizing extraordinary potential that is there. it has some of the world's last remaining superdeposits or se other terms, certainly, for environment, lithium, tin, timber, gemstones. it has some coal, it has some natural gas and oil. so, again, they're not super deposits. but it has extraordinary potential. and again, helping business find its way to that in partnership with the military that i

lo and behold, 5,000 barrels per day, plus the gas.t they have convened a federal board to try to calculate this. maybe i am wrong. maybe they never told us in previous phone conferences that they brought this to get there. but it was not in my recollection until we began to mention it. host: what about bp's responsibility to know how much oil is coming from that wealth? guest: in fairness to everyone, when you talk to the scientists, they say it ii harder to estimate denny might think. we have to also -- then you might think. if we have to also acknowledge the physics. there is less external pressure and the gas or oil expands as it comes to the surface. we know there is a the 9.75 injured diameter of the pie. -- inner diameter of the pipe. there is a certain pressure gradient between the bottom and the top. all that to say, i can accept that it is a harder call to make. on the other hand, it is should have been started from day one. host: lincoln, neb., republican line. caller: i have 30 years' pxperience both as a record -- roughnec

gas is up and coming. gas reserves are going up by 1/3 or doubling. that is a big lobbying smack down royale. >> i would love to open it up for questions here if people have questions about where the process is going. >> for each of you, in the november election, are there elections that are going to be influenced positively or negatively by either the gulf spill or environmental concerns in general?+ >> i'm trying to think of individual races. yes. >> there are a couple. there are a couple of very vulnerable democrats who voted for the cap and trade system under the house bill -- folks like tom perriello. he will get attack on this. there are a lot of factors. mary jo kilroy is another very vulnerable democrat in ohio. these are the walking wounded. if the republicans can win these seats, these folks will not have a job next january. if you're looking for categories, those are folks who will be affected negatively. most of the gulf states' lawmakers are fairly safe -- both the democrats and republicans. i did not see where the louisiana and alabama d

as a result, there are nbout 3,000 or 3,600 oil and gas-related structures in the gulf.9, 80% of all u.s. offshore oil producti, 45% of natural gas production occurred in water depths in excess of 1,000 feet. industry had drilled nearly 4,000 wells to tho depths. operators have drilled about 700 wells that like deepwater horiz horizon's well are in water depths of 5,000 feet or greater on the outer continental shelf. in 2009, production from the gulf accounted for 31% of total domestic oil production and 11% of totalomestic natural gas production. offshore operations provided direct employmen estimated at 150,000 jobs. we're all aware of our country's demand for oil. as a result of this accident, we are aware, perhaps, in away that we were not before of e true potential costs of that demand. the challenge for regulators and for congress in enacting statutory responsibilities and authorities to those regulators is to put approiate requirements in place ensuring that this horrible price is not paid again. at the same time, we are reminded that we must continue with renewed

enough natural gas in the outer continental shell to have at least, conventional natural gas, to at least take care of all the natural gas needs of the nation at the current rate for more than 20 years. one might ask, what's the value of these reserves and resources for the american people? frankly if you use standard pricing, base it on -- just the reserves and resources that we have, the -- without any other benefits, economic benefits, just the royalties and corporate taxes would bring in $4.5 trillion from production of that more than enough to pay off about 1/3 of the national debt without any tax increases. when you add in the ability to produce methane high grates which now international research has shown is likely that would be another $7.5 trillion. all of those methane hydrates, by the way, 99 pk of them are in the deep water. certainly deeper than 2,500 feet. so if we don't allow deep water drilling that whole value of that will unavailable for the american people and that's $7.5 trillion in corporate income tax and royalties. so those two together, about $12 trillion. getting

and natural gas capability. the e.u. penalties go beyond those approved by the u.n. security council last week. the u.s. imposed its own new penalties yesterday. israel has eased its blockade of gaza. a spokesman for prime minister benjamin netanyahu outlined the new terms today. they include letting construction materials for civilian projects into gaza. >> the government of israel took decisions to liberalize the system under which civilian goods may enter the gaza strip. to expand materials for projects inside gaza that are under international supervision, but, of course, we must remain with the security procedures that prevent the import into gaza of weapons and more materials that could strengthen the hamas military machine. the militant group hamas rules gaza and a spokesman called the israeli move nothing more than "window-dressing." the chief negotiator for the palestinian authority, saeb erekat, was critical as well. >> there is no such thing as easing the siege. this siege must be totally and completel

host: so, the investors are the oil and gas companies in the alternative? guest: know, the investors are the venture capital. pennies to the dollar, they are not completely missing in action, but they are not really invested. the alternative is oil in the market. if they want to end up getting alternatives along the way, i am sure they have the deep pockets to do it. they should not be blocking alternatives. host: how are they blocking alternatives? guest: no other alternative can weather the storm of the market. it is not something america wants to deal with. when the price goes up we get innovative. we have a generation from the 1970's of inefficient cars and over consumption, which is not a great position for americans to be in. i think if we export the money to other countries, if we could actually put a price of oil and said it more favorably, there could be an alternative. host: how could you do that? i thought you said that opec was in charge of this. we are talking about oil stands , the rocky mountains. these are the oils that have come on line in

we are aware of the fact that there will be some reduction in oil and gas production? i don't have document in front of me. but i recall reading it sometime late last night. >> what percentage would that ekwa to? >> are any shallow water production corps rags halted as a result of the june 2 memorandum? or does the action only affect wells currely in development roducing oil? nator, the shaow water drilling activities still have to come ply with the safety requirements. our view is that ones that will be able to be met by most of the companies. >> would you explain which oil and gas operations. >> it's only been minimally effected by the deep water spill so the production online continues to produce muchf energy that we are using here in this nation today. >> the drilling rigs that are out there. we ordered those companies to get to a place where they could secure the well and then to stop until we give them further orders. >> will you be revisiting to confirm that each operation has been more than temporary abandonment? >> senator johnson we will be making sure includ

-- gas in the oil stream? the gas is flared off. on the q4000, that's the second one we've established, we got our production rates up, both the gas and the oil are being flared off. where we're -- it's being atomized and it's actually being burned off on site, rather than being produced. at some point in the future, q4000 to where we're actually recovering the oil. measurement of cubic feet of gas, and we can give that to you. i just don't have it in front of me. >> [inaudible]. >> the q4000 is flaring gas and oil. in other words, there's a burner, and it's all just being burned as it comes to the surface. on the discover explorer, we're flaring the gas, burning off the natural gas, and we're producing the oil, and that's being shifted to a tanker. what we're trying to do is get as much out of the well so it's not going to the surface. that's the [inaudible]. >> operator, begin taking questions from the phone line. >> your first question is from bryan walsh. please state your affiliation. >> bryan walsh with "time magazine." admira

there is oil, natural gas, water and sediment. the oceanographic institute is looking at it right now. they have sensitive acoustic devices down there and they are trying to get across section of the volume using sonar apparatuses. they are using a lot of mathematical data and crunching it right now. >> are we talking weeks? >> we were hoping to have it available today. it is kind of the proverbial room where you throw seven pieces under the door and say, do not come out until you have it done. we want bp to have the capacity to get the system -- to keep the system going if one section of shutdown. it was always part of the plan that is part of the way to deal with the oil. >> [unintelligible] >> there are resources from other countries that are available, and we are using them. we are using resources from norway, canada, and other places. in some cases, we're just having to trannfer the equipment down. nobody has come to me with a but any capability we can bring in, we are willing to. in some cases, it is the skimmer itself. to m

we have placed a six-month moratorium on drilling new deepwater oil and gas wells and the are, shall. and now that a 30-day safety and environmental review is complete, we are making a series of changing. there are aggressive new operating standards which we will put in place. i have also called on congress to pass a bill to provide critical resources to respond to this spill and better prepare us for any spills in the future. now all that has to do with dealing with the crisis at hand. but it is critical that we take a comprehensive look at how the oil and gas industry operates and how our government oversees those operations. that is why i signed an executive order establishing this national commission, and i am extraordinary pleased that bob graham and bill reilly have agreed to be as cochairs. bob turner -- bob served two terms as florida's governor, represented florida in the senate for almost two decades. he earned reputation as a champion of the environment, leading the most extensive environmental protection effort in the state's history. bill is chairman emeritus of the board

host: savannah, ga., on our independent line.is only a matter of time before this is off the shores of savannah. we are watching and the oil is coming our way it has hit pensacola and it will get to savannah and go up the east coast. can to call the president and give him some great ideas on what to do? why can't somebody that has great ideas show up and get the federal government to do the right thing. bp does not know what to do. bp, shell, chevron, exxon, but then come together and do what is right. work together for the good of the people. you only need to get together for this one time. you all have the money. we don't have the money so we are watching. there should be some skimming done some work. there should be boats out there. why haven't other companies showed up with their boats? eventually, this will affect all of us, not just the gulf coast, not just the cost of savannah. it will go up and eventually it will have ever won financially. guest: the point is very clear. there is skimming taking place but it is with small

lo and behold, 5,000 barrels per day, plus the gas.they said that they have tryened a federal board to calculate this. ybe i am wrong. maybe they never told us in previous phone conferences that brought this to get there. not in my recollection until we began to mention it. ht: what about bp's responsibility to know how much is coming from tt wealth? guest: in faiess to everyone, to the scientists, say it ii hardero estimate denny might think. we he to also -- th you might think. if we he to ao acknowledge e physics. there is less external pressure and the gas oil expands as it comes to the surface. we know there is a the 9.75 injured diameter of the pie. -- inner diameter of thepipe. there is certain pressure gradient between the bottom and the top. all that to say, i can accept that it is a haer call to make. hand, it is should have been started from day o. host: lincoln, neb., republican line. caller: i have 3 years' pxperience both as a record -- roughnecand a commercial diver gulf. and i have sent along possible solutions. i do no

the boats come in, fill up with gas, buying ice, soft drinks.o, she's down 85% on her business right now. >> right. >> so, this is just a sampling of what is happening out here. and part of what we talked about was what we can do to prevent oil from coming in to these are areas. part of what we talked about is in terms of the relief effort can we deploy folks who have boats here to help save their lively hoods right where they are as opposed to having to go to other places. so i will ask admiral allen to make sure that he is looking at where people are being deployed, where vessels are being deployed to make sure people who know the waters best are being hired there. the final thing is we have to about what we talked about up in new orleans, which is are we making sure that claims are being processed effectively. right now, after that initial $5,000 check that b.p. wrote, the claim center has been taking in claims. but it sounds, based on what i'm hearing that there is a lot of process but not much actual action. so, we are going to see if we ca

that is where it -- the gas and diesel prices are much higher in europe because of the gas taxes. china does not tax oil or gasoline at all. they are trying to fuel their economy on that. there are a lot of extremes in the world. the greatest thing we could do+ is bring up the price of gasoline and turn on all of these alternatives to become an exporter. host: are you saying we should be exploring for natural gas in the west virginia area? guest: we should not be over consuming our own. this is precious. it comes at great cost to develop it. there are environmental damages. these are risky ventures. we should have alternatives for ourselves. if we want to use the expensive energy, we should use it for profit for ourselves. host: the next phone call is from cambridge, new york, on the independence blind -- independents'line. caller: there is one issue of want to bring to light. the commodity deal in the enron trading, the speculators were dealing in paper. i think we should return to the day when speculators gamble on commodities, if they lose, they should take delivery of the prod

production, fees on imported oil, increasing the gas tax. these are all things one presumes would be vigorously opposed by the oil and gas industry and anybody who's counting on that industry for jobs or income. >> so i think we could look at fees like... describes in the report, we didn't recommend a particular fee. we could also do the reallocation of other resources. but i think these are investments for the future. they will ultimately mean lower energy costs. there will be more jobs for us. and so i see this very different as an investment, not a cost. and so i think people should look at it that way. >> lehrer: john doerr, as i understand it, your council, your group, has not taken a position on energy policy options, at least some of them that are being debated right now. and in particular putting a price on carbon emissions, carbon pollution. how can you influence this debate if you don't take a position on that? >> well, our council has said that it makes sense to us to pay for this increased r&d by some form of price on carbon poll

people were out crying that they would not be able to buy their homer, these big gas guzzlers.he real problem in this whole thing is that we've, the american people, we are the problem. host: should he have appealed more to the american people to make a sacrifice? caller: absolutely. is it life or money? that seems to be all that we are thinking about. money and what we are going to lose because we are so personally caught up. what obama was talking about change everyone was jumping up and saying yes, a change. americans do not want change. they want stability in the ill- gotten gain of an unfair system that was never balanced. it was that -- it was meant to be balanced but it never was. host: san diego, sheila, you are on the air. caller: i just wanted to make a few points. one is something that you mentioned. in terms of transitioning to different sources of energy, what we have not considered is the cost of doing business as usual in the gulf of mexico. when people say that the president -- i agree with the caller who talked about using sticks over knives. life does not work

first, tapping into offshore off -- oil and gas reserves. that could be 2200 jobs and royalties that we could use in south carolina has receded. the other side of that is nuclear their four nuclear reactors on the board in south carolina. those four nuclear reactors represent $25 billion investment in south carolina which are real jobs, real growth, and real economic opportunity. >> ms. haley did think questions about your personal life would respect -- affect your ability to raise jobs? >> not at all, because they are not true. it's funny how there were no questions until two weeks prior to the election and i was a double digit leader in the polls. everything i had done in the general assembly has been pushed for accountability, bring out the truth, whether through term limits are getting legislators to disclose their incomes were showing spending on one, that is very important. i will tell you that my husband and i had been faithful for 13 years. i think it is sad that south carolina politics is at its worst. i was called by gov. mitt romn

there may be natural gas coming out instead. this is a risk-management process, to build with the objective. i have two concerns. the administration will need extra time to implement these protocols, but on the other hand, i am in the process of losing thousands of jobs in indiana. well allowing companies to drill partially, without allowing them to tap into the oil reservoir, will this create tremendous risks? the reason i am looking into this solution is because, it will allow the administration time -- we will try to keep the oil rig into not throwing anything out. >> i have spoken to sen. about what is taking place and the industry has made department of the interior has made recommendations, it is important that they be adequately staffed, to the revised permitting that is being put in place. >> the time has expired and the gentle lady from taxes is recognized. >> thank you for your courtesy. so many of us have indicated that we have come from the region where so many constituents have been impacted, -pevery single day by t

it includes ending tax breaks for the oral and gas industry. frankly, bp surefire its ceo over what has happened. to give him his life back by firing him. we absolutely need to lift the cap. when the wrong door does damage, they need to be held responsible. we have to quit the finger- pointing between various parties. the responsibility belongs to all of them. we have to make sure the people of louisiana, who make their living out of the water, out of recreation and tourism, if i compare that to the folks i know on the coast of north carolina, if it were happening here, i would be up in arms. i am up in arms about what is going on in the louisiana. those are folks who have made a living out of a passion or a hobby. i think it is the best of all things when you can get up and love the work you are in. we need to reform the minerals management office, because it has been too cozy. we have to make sure they are fully funded to do the job they are proposed to do. senator burr has taken tremendous amount of money from big or oil and gas, a huge amou

mahmoud ahmadinejad will be popping champagne, but the consumers will rrmember the good old days when gaswas only four dollars per gallon. i asked secretary salazar to ask what went wrong on that the deepwater horizon rig. he said you believed it was preventable, that ii was the result of human error and overlooked safety regulations. [buzzer sounds] i will wait for that. we will not be satisfied until there is no danger to our environment. let us learn from this awful mistake, fix the problem, clean up the gulf, and look forward to fixing our ailing economy and creating private sector jobs. >> we recognize the chairman of the full committee, the gentleman from california, henry waxman. >> thank you for holding this hearing and for your tenacious work on this issue. you have been a true advocate for transparency and admonished traded accountability. accountability.ative%- you have kept the american people informed about the unfolding disaster in the gulf. yesterday, we released a letter excoriating the terrible decisions made by bp in the days leading up to the blowout. time after time, b