Congressman Steve Scalise leaned over the railing of the Chevron Corp. oil platform floating in inky blue waters 250 miles off the Louisiana coast and marveled to a cluster of lawmakers that it produces 75,000 barrels of crude every day.
Bloomberg reports Scalise is one of the oil industry’s busiest tour guides in Congress. Eight times, he’s lured colleagues onto helicopters bound for remote drilling rigs and production facilities in the Gulf of Mexico. His motive: to persuade even Democrats to overturn Obama administration rules that will add costs to offshore drilling.
“Some bureaucrat in Washington that’s never drilled before comes up with this standard and says, ‘This is how you drill every well in the Gulf,’” Scalise told his colleagues. “It makes absolutely no sense.”
For oil and gas companies plumbing Gulf waters, Scalise is an evangelist of growing importance. First elected in 2008 to finish the term of Bobby Jindal, Scalise climbed the Republican leadership ladder and has emerged as the oil industry’s leading congressional ally—a role that’s taken on new significance in an uncertain presidential election year.
Republican presidents are usually reliable supporters of the oil industry, but the party’s 2016 front-runner, real estate developer Donald Trump, has disparaged the sector as a “special interest.” Democratic challengers Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders, meanwhile, have courted environmentalists with promises to block offshore drilling in the Arctic and Atlantic.
Scalise, 50, the third most powerful Republican in the House, represents a southeastern Louisiana district that encompasses the full chain of oil and gas development, and energy interests have helped fund his legislative career. The industry has given $204,750 to his 2016 re-election bid so far.
The biggest of those donors are employees, lobbyists and political action committees associated with Hess Corp., Pioneer Natural Resources and Koch Industries Inc.
“He’s a rock star on our stuff, there’s no question about it,” said Stephen Brown, vice president of federal government affairs for Tesoro Corp., which refines and markets petroleum products. “He’s probably your go-to person for the oil and gas industry. If he can’t be for it, it’s not going to happen.”
