WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Senator Pat Roberts today called for increased domestic natural gas production to ease the nation’s growing energy demand.

“It is important for our national security and our economy that we increase domestic energy production,” Senator Roberts said. “Rising energy prices are part of the growing cost of staying in the business of farming. It is simply too much for some producers to keep up with the cost of fuel and fertilizer.”

Senator Roberts signed onto S. 2253, a bill to develop an oil and gas leasing program for Lease Area 181, 100 miles off the Florida coast in the Gulf of Mexico.

The lease program, which must begin within a year after the bill is passed into law, will bring nearly 5 trillion cubic feet of natural gas to market in the near future, according to estimates by the Minerals Management Service. That is enough gas to heat nearly five million homes for 15 years, according to the American Gas Association.

“It is obvious,” Roberts said, “we must take steps to encourage new exploration in the United States and off our shores. Supplies from this area can hit the market quickly, helping to alleviate the pain of paying high prices.”

Roberts went on to say, “We took the right step forward by passing a comprehensive energy bill last year to decrease our dependence on foreign sources of energy and increase our supply of domestic energy resources. I am pleased that bill promotes the development and use of renewable energy resources produced and harvested in our own backyard like ethanol and wind power. It also provides incentives for Kansas oil and gas producers to explore resources within our own country.”

Senator Roberts is a senior member of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry.