By Kaylee Merchak, Reporter NEWSCHANNEL10

AMARILLO, TX (KFDA) - A newly purposed initiative may allow the U.S. to use more domestic oil and less of foreign, which will have a great impact on the oil and gas economy.

Imported oil is rapidly increasing and could return the country into the same dependency that began in the late '70s and lasted until 2010. If Saudi Arabia continues to over-produce oil (like current numbers indicate), the world oversupply will continue. Even though gas and oil prices lower, the supply puts a greater strain on the local workforce, economy, and national security.

Sunday's OPEC meeting proves Saudi Arabia doesn't plan on reducing its production of oil anytime soon, but the Panhandle Import Reduction Initiative may change that.

"Saudi Arabia and all the Middle East countries met in Doha over the weekend and they have decided that they will not seek a reduction in production from the Middle East, and so what that does is it drives the U.S. oil and gas economy down," said Judy Stark, Executive Vice President of the Panhandle Producers and Royalty Owners Association (PPROA). "It will allow the U.S. to take control of their own economy. Right now, the Middle East is forcing us to buy their oil and we're spending about one trillion dollars a year in U.S. money going to back to them when it should remain inside the U.S. to create a better economy. It also puts us in a horrible situation with national security because of the fact that we do not want to have a foreign entity commanding how are economics will go."  

The initiative was started locally and aimed to revive President Dwight Eisenhower's 1959 quota system, which acted to sustain a healthy oil industry and middle class communities. The previous quota system worked for 14 years, keeping domestic oil from going out of business against foreign imports.

Essentially, the proposed import quotas would stop the U.S. from importing foreign oil and allow for greater control of the oil purchased and resold. Initially, light tight oil imports would be refused, and heavy crude oil import restrictions would follow. 

"The import quota proposal is to prevent the termination of the American production of oil and gas," Dr. Daniel Fine, Creator of the Panhandle Import Reduction Initiative, said. "[There's] too much oil in the world, especially from OPEC, which is an association of Middle East producers has created a down turn in price and employment and has disrupted American communities in the South west and North Dakota. This initiative is to move to a position where foreign oil is limited, we do not import foreign oil in the quantities that will add new destruction and shut down to protect the American industry." 

Texas alone has lost 77,000 oil and gas related jobs, but local experts believe even though gas prices would increase, it will help bring jobs back to the area and boost the economy. Use this link for full article->http://www.newschannel10.com/story/31755114/local-experts-work-to-b...