By T. Boone Pickens and Tom Cole, The Lawton Constitution
Oklahoma has been at the center of energy production since the first commercial oil well was drilled at Bartlesville in 1897 – ten years before the Oklahoma Territory became the 46th state.

   For most of that history, it was oil which was the fuel of Oklahoma’s economic engine. But, more recently Oklahoma and the rest of the nation are looking toward natural gas to take its rightful place in the 21st century economy.

   Although one of us has a degree from the University of Oklahoma, and the other a degree from Oklahoma State University, we are united on this: Natural gas is America’s energy future and critical to our national security.

   Not so long ago, reserves of natural gas were limited and shrinking fast. There was competition among industries which needed natural gas – chemicals, pharmaceuticals, agriculture, home heating and cooking and electricity production – to make sure they had a sufficient supply in a crowded market.

   Over the past decade new drilling techniques have made the natural gas contained in the shale deposits under the continental United States available for recovery. There is so much natural gas – perhaps as much as 2,000 trillion cubic feet (Tcf) – that some studies now predict we have enough natural gas reserves to last 118 years.

   Here in Oklahoma the Woodford Shale has already been tapped using these new techniques.

   This is crucial because the amount of oil which is available for drilling on-shore is diminishing. Because our principal transportation fuel is refined from oil and because we don’t have enough oil being produced domestically to support 250 million cars, light trucks, and 6.5 million heavy-duty trucks, we have to import nearly two-thirds of the oil we use every day.

   In September this amounted to 357 million barrels of oil which cost us $25 billion. At that rate we will spend a third of a trillion dollars this year to import the oil we need to drive our cars and trucks.

   Hydrogen fuel-cell technology is a great option, but it isn’t ready yet. In any event, a battery will not power an 18-wheeler today. Only two forms of fuel now available will do that: diesel and natural gas.

   Natural gas is cleaner than foreign diesel – it is also cleaner than gasoline. And it produces virtually no particulate matter, unlike diesel which anyone who has ever waited for a child for the school bus on a cold Oklahoma morning understands.

   Natural gas is cheaper than imported oil and because we have an abundant supply in the continental U.S. we don’t have to worry about being held hostage for oil by our major suppliers, many of whom are from unstable areas of the world, don’t have our best interests at heart, or both.

   Russia supplies a significant amount of the natural gas Europe needs to heat its homes in the winter. This past January Russia, in a dispute with Ukraine, cut off natural gas supplies to much of Europe to bring pressure on Ukraine.

   We do not have to be in the position of worrying about whether Saudi Arabia, or Angola, or Venezuela will decide to try and influence our foreign policy by shutting off some or all of their oil sales to us.

   There is a bill currently in Congress – the NAT GAS Act of 2009 – which will help jump start the natural gas vehicle (NGV) industry in the United States. Around the world there are about 10 million NGVs, but only about 130,000 in the U.S.

   H.R. 1835 will provide tax incentives to replace vehicles burning imported gasoline or diesel with cars and trucks running on domestic natural gas. Any vehicle which goes home to the “barn” every night is a candidate – utility and express delivery trucks, school and municipal buses, and taxi fleets are examples.

   H.R. 1835 has 110 bi-partisan co-sponsors in the House. Because of the importance of energy to Oklahoma’s well being, we are encouraging the Congress to pass and send to the President H.R. 1835, the NAT GAS Act of 2009.

Geologist and Holdenville native T. Boone Pickens has been in the energy business since he left OSU, while O.U. grad Tom Cole of Moore represents southwest Oklahoma in the U.S. Congress.