REFILE-FACTBOX-Energy bills moving through the US Congress

(Refiles to fix links to additional stories)

WASHINGTON, May 5 (Reuters) - As gasoline prices hover near
$4 per gallon, lawmakers from both political parties are
pushing bills they say will provide some relief at the pump.

Republicans in the House of Representatives are pushing
bills to jump-start offshore oil drilling, while President
Barack Obama's Democrats want to eliminate tax breaks for oil
and gas companies. [ID:nN0582990] Both measures face stiff
opposition.

Here are some of the measures Congress is considering:

TAX BREAKS FOR OIL COMPANIES

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid wants to bring
legislation ending billions of dollars in tax breaks for oil
companies before the end of May.

Sketching out some of the details of the plan, Senator Max
Baucus, the top Democrat on the tax-writing Finance Committee,
has said he wants to end a manufacturing deduction used by
energy companies and add excise taxes on certain leases in the
Gulf of Mexico. [ID:nN28278233]

Democrats say oil companies don't need the incentives and
the funds could go to investing in alternative forms of energy
and lowering the deficit.

Republicans counter that tax hikes would be passed on to
consumers in the form of higher prices at the pump.

Democrats have not yet produced a bill, and the timing of a
vote is unclear.

OFFSHORE DRILLING

The U.S. House of Representatives approved legislation on
Thursday to force the government to conduct lease sales for oil
exploration off the Virginia coast and in the Gulf of Mexico
that were canceled or delayed following the BP oil spill.

The legislation has little chance of making it into law and
faces strong opposition in the Democratic-controlled Senate.

The White House said on Thursday it also opposed the bill
because the measure would undermine new offshore drilling
safety regulations imposed after last year's oil spill.

Republicans argue Obama administration policies in the Gulf
have reduced domestic oil production and made the United States
more reliant on foreign oil. [ID:nN1388727]

Democrats counter that hastily expanding offshore drilling
ignores lessons learned from last year's BP (BP.L) oil spill. A
bill introduced in the Senate Energy and Natural Resources
Committee focuses on requiring the best available technology
for offshore drilling wells and imposes a fee on companies to
pay for more inspectors. [ID:nN03118447]

For information on the bills from the Natural Resources
Committee, read here: r.reuters.com/mav39r

OIL AND GAS PRODUCTION GOALS

A third bill passed by the House Natural Resources
Committee would require the Obama administration to include oil
and natural gas production goals in the Interior Department's
five-year leasing plan.

The bill sets benchmarks at 3 million barrels of oil per
day and 10 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day by 2027.

The bill also instructs Obama to make at least 50 percent
of the areas known to have the greatest oil and gas reserves
available for leasing when his administration issues its
2012-2017 leasing plan.

Natural Resources Committee explanation of the bill:
r.reuters.com/rav39r

NUCLEAR ENERGY

A bill before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources
Committee calls for the Energy Department to develop small
nuclear reactors below 300 megawatts, which backers say are
cheaper, quicker to build, and safer than larger reactors.

The new reactors, which would be licensed by 2021, would
operate with similar reactors on the same site.

For information on the bill from the Energy and Natural
Resources Committee, read here: r.reuters.com/duz39r

ETHANOL

Senator Charles Grassley introduced a bipartisan bill this
week that would reduce the 45-cent per gallon ethanol credit
currently enjoyed by refiners and ethanol blenders. The bill,
which could satisfy both Republican calls to cut costs and the
Obama administration's call to reform ethanol incentives, would
link incentives to the price of oil by 2014. Backers of the
bill are looking for lawmakers in the House to push it
through.

NATURAL GAS

On Wednesday the Blue Dog coalition, a group of 25 moderate
Democrats who push for conservative budget policies, endorsed a
bill that would provide incentives for converting heavy-duty
trucks and other vehicles to run on natural gas.

The measure, which incorporates ideas from Texas energy
billionaire T. Boone Pickens, has wide bipartisan support. But
chemical makers and other industries that use large amounts of
gas are afraid that increased demand would boost prices and are
lobbying to stop the bill.
(Reporting by Emily Stephenson and Timothy Gardner;editing by
Sofina Mirza-Reid)