NEW IBERIA, – With oil toppling $100 per barrel and nearing 2-1/2 year highs, Congressman Jeff Landry is once again demanding the President to end his de facto moratorium on oil and gas drilling in the Gulf of Mexico.

Landry – the House’s leading proponent of domestic oil and gas drilling – stated, “As I said during the height of Egyptian crisis, as I said at the Oil Spill Commission hearing, and as I said countless times to government bureaucrats – every day we fail to utilize our own energy resources in the Gulf of Mexico and across America is a day our economy is held captive to disasters in foreign countries. The violence in Libya once again proves my point.”

“What doesn’t the President understand?” posed Landry. “Our economy – while showing glimpses of hope – cannot withstand another 1970’s price shock. I am fed up with his oil-free green energy pipedream being pushed at the expense of thousands of jobs for hard-working Americans. I ask the President, what price do the American people have to pay at the pump before you realize that a lack of domestic oil production is disastrous to our economy?”

U.S. Representative Charles W. Boustany, Jr., (R-Southwest Louisiana) Thursday discussed his concerns about American energy production and the nation’s dependence on foreign oil, as prices rose above $100 a barrel amidst anxiety over the turmoil in Libya.

“As America’s dependence on foreign oil continues, we feel the impact of the conflicts in the Middle East,” Boustany said. “The actions in Libya to overthrow this oppressive regime are a sign of hope and progress for this North African nation, and the violence against the protesters must cease immediately.

“But the impact this instability has on American energy proves again that we must utilize the resources we have in this country rather than foster our continued addiction to foreign oil. This administration has halted offshore energy production for months with the moratorium and subsequent defacto moratorium. The proposed tax increases on American energy producers will further weaken our energy security. I hope these uprisings not only bring change to the nations overseas, but spur a renaissance of American energy production,” Boustany said.

Landry added, “Libya only accounts for 2% of the world’s output of oil; yet, because we are losing their production and not drilling domestically offshore, gas prices are up 20% from levels a year ago.

“American families and businesses must have reliable, affordable domestic energy now. We must drill in the Gulf of Mexico immediately.”

Some analysts have predicted gas prices rising to $4 a gallon by mid-summer. With a lower-valued dollar, an increase in oil demand, continuing unrest in North Africa and the Middle East, and the President’s unconstitutional permitorium.

“We are facing $150 barrels of oil, $5 a gallon gasoline, less consumer spending, higher unemployment, and a deeper recession,” Landry concluded.

According to published reports, international oil companies that are planning evacuations from or have halted production already in Libya are BP (Britain), Eni (Italy), OMV (Austria), Respol (Spain), and Statoil (Norway).