The Fertilizer Institute (TFI) recently hailed the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee for its March 8 approval of legislation (S. 2253), which would lift restrictions on natural gas development in the eastern portion of the Gulf of Mexico. The bill, which directs the U.S. Department of Interior to begin leasing on restricted portions of the 6 million-acre Lease Sale 181 area within one year of the legislation’s enactment, passed the committee on a vote of 16 to 5. The committee is chaired by Sen. Pete Domenici (R-N.M.).

“The Senate vote is a meaningful step toward addressing the national energy crisis which is having such a grave impact on the U.S. fertilizer industry and its farmer customers,” said TFI president Ford B. West. “We commend Senator Domenici for his leadership on this critical issue.”

The nitrogen fertilizer industry relies upon natural gas as the fundamental feedstock ingredient for the production of nitrogen fertilizer. Natural gas represents 70 to 90 percent of the product cost of one ton of anhydrous ammonia—the building block for most other forms of commercial nitrogen plant nutrients.