US Senate panel give green light to do more offshore drilling
A U.S. Senate panel approves expansion of offshore oil and natural gas drilling in an attempt to open more of the eastern Gulf of Mexico to energy development.
Former President George W. Bush removed a presidential moratorium on offshore drilling last year, and Congress let a ban expire after oil prices reached a record $147.27 a barrel. The amendment, proposed today by Senator Byron Dorgan, alters a remaining ban on drilling from 2006 legislation that protected portions of the gulf.
“That portion of the eastern gulf that is not open, with a buffer zone of 45 miles, should be available for drilling for oil and natural gas,” said Dorgan, a North Dakota Democrat. The drilling area includes the Destin Dome, an area off the coast of Pensacola, Florida, which may hold 2.6 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, according to the energy department.
The drilling provision is one of several amendments that have been considered during the weeks the committee has spent debating energy legislation that would, among other things, require a portion of electricity to come from renewable resources and set new energy efficiency standards.
Committee Chairman Jeff Bingaman, a New Mexico Democrat, said the goal is for the panel to finish work on the energy legislation on June 11. “We have no floor date committed,” Bingaman told reporters after the session today.
The committee rejected a proposal by Sen. Mary Landrieu, a Louisiana Democrat, to share royalty revenues from offshore drilling with coastal states. It also rejected a bid by Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski, a Republican, to open a portion of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to drilling.
Supporters of state-revenue sharing promised to bring the matter up again when the legislation reaches the Senate floor.
“Continued discussion is necessary to ensure that coastal states should be given a portion of the revenues associated with the development of oil and gas off their shores,” Jack Gerard, president of the American Petroleum Institute, said in a statement.
Gerard, whose group represents the oil industry, said the Dorgan amendment will “help the American people by creating new jobs, adding new energy resources and providing new revenues to federal, state and local governments.”
“There is no way they are going to drill 45 miles off of Florida’s coast,” Sen. Bill Nelson, a Florida Democrat, said in an interview after today’s vote. Nelson, who isn’t a member of the energy committee, appeared in the room just before the vote.
Nelson joined with Republican Sen. Mel Martinez and the rest of the Florida congressional delegation in support of the 2006 measure that opened 8.3 million acres to drilling because it included a buffer of 125 miles (201 kilometers) to 235 miles off the coast of the state that would last until 2022.
Dorgan said in an interview he hasn’t discussed the amendment with Florida’s two senators. “These ideas have been kicking around for a while,” said Dorgan. The provision to prevent drilling within 45 miles of shore was a response to Florida’s concerns, he said.
A 45-mile buffer would interfere with naval training in the area and threaten the beaches, Nelson said.
“They have got to get over my objections, that’s not going to be easy,” Nelson said. “If I have to do a filibuster, I will do it.” Bloomberg
Asked whether the drilling provision could scuttle the energy legislation, Bingaman responded, “a lot of things could scuttle this.” (Bloomberg)
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