A leading House Republican is blasting President Obama for his comments this weekend expressing support for increased offshore drilling in Brazil.

Rep. Doc Hastings (R-Wash.), chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee, today lashed out at comments Obama made during a two-day visit to Brazil in support of the South American nation's burgeoning offshore drilling industry.

"By some estimates, the oil you recently discovered off the shores of Brazil could amount to twice the reserves we have in the United States," Obama said Saturday during an address to the CEO Business Summit in Brasilia. "We want to work with you. We want to help with technology and support to develop these oil reserves safely, and when you're ready to start selling, we want to be one of your best customers."

He added, "At a time when we've been reminded how easily instability in other parts of the world can affect the price of oil, the United States could not be happier with the potential for a new, stable source of energy."

But Hastings, who is among a large bloc of Republicans that wants to see more domestic drilling, is not pleased with the president's comments.

"Rather than creating American energy and American jobs, President Obama is in Brazil advocating for deepening the United States' reliance on foreign energy," Hastings said in a statement. "The President has clearly learned nothing from recent world events. He appears to believe the answer is to shift our foreign energy dependence from one part of the world to another."

Republicans and drilling advocates have been pressing the Obama administration to step up its permitting and review of offshore drilling projects in the Gulf of Mexico that have been virtually stalled since last spring's Deepwater Horizon blowout and oil spill.

"The real answer is to produce more American energy," Hastings added. "The 'potential for a new, stable source of energy' can be found with our own resources here at home. Resources that the Obama administration is purposely choosing to keep under lock-and-key."

Hastings is not alone in his critique of the administration's support of the Brazilian drilling industry.

Sen. David Vitter, a Louisiana Republican, last week used the president's trip to Brazil to question a $2 billion loan from the Export-Import Bank of the United States to Petrobras, Brazil's state-owned oil company.

Vitter last week followed up on a 2009 letter he sent to Obama about the loan to help Brazil expand its offshore exploration and production capabilities by sending a second letter to the president of the bank.

"Louisianans are frustrated with the ongoing de facto moratorium, and I would appreciate a full accounting for the return on investment the American taxpayer has received -- and is anticipated to receive -- on the $2 billion loan to this Brazilian petroleum company," Vitter said in a statement.

"I want to understand why permitting domestically is nearly stalled, and if there is at least a return on this investment over the last year and a half for supporting production offshore Brazil."

The administration says the loan will help sustain 507,000 U.S. jobs. The federal credit agency does not receive any taxpayer funding.