STATEMENT FOR THE RECORD - MICHAEL C. BURGESS

ENERGY AND COMMERCE HEARING

"World Crude Oil Pricing"

May 4, 2006

Mr. Chairman, thank you for convening this hearing this morning.

As we are hearing from our constituents on this topic, I think the information provided by the panelists today will help this committee get beyond the rhetoric to the facts.

The geography of oil and gas has led our country to place our energy assurance in the hands of leaders such as Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and inflexible or unstable dictators of the Middle East.

There are ongoing concerns about the stability of supply from Russia and the Nigeria Delta Region.

As we'll hear from our panelists today, these uncertainties, along with fears about Iran's nuclear program and the ongoing war on terror, increase the price of oil without

All of these geopolitical uncertainties make foreign oil unpredictable and unaffordable. As we heard from the panelists yesterday, the best way to bring down prices is to increase production in the United States. Today, we import nearly 60% of our oil, but we've prohibited exploration in the OCS, in ANWR, and on other federal land.

I believe we should allow, and in fact encourage, exploration and production here at home. A barrel of oil coming from the oil shale in Utah is significantly safer than a barrel of oil coming from Iran.

I'd like to thank our panelists who are here this morning. According to the most recent figures from EIA the price of crude accounts for between 55 and 60 percent of the price of gasoline, so I look forward to learning from our panelists about the market forces that influence the price of crude oil.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, I yield back.