Senate bill deemed interim step for comprehensive US energy policy. (General Interest).

Major oil companies and independents both said they see a recently passed Senate energy bill as an important step in finalizing a comprehensive US energy policy. But independents cautioned that it falls "far short" of the domestic energy production incentives in the House-passed energy bill.

"The Senate bill includes a package of tax credits that are particularly important to small independent producers. Yet it is woefully inadequate to reduce our dependence on imported oil or to allow energy producers access to America's abundant resources, particularly at a time when we are fighting a war on terrorism and facing mounting unrest and conflict in the Middle East," said Diemer True, chairman of the Independent Petroleum Association of America, after the bill passed late last month. "Should this situation in the Middle East escalate, our reliance on imported oil puts us further at risk. The Senate bill does very little to help."

The American Petroleum Institute struck a more conciliatory tone.

"[API] welcomes Senate passage of this important energy legislation. With the House of Representatives earlier having passed its energy bill, two out of three necessary legislative steps have been completed as the federal government moves forward on a comprehensive national energy policy. The all-important third step now needs to be taken: …