US advisory panel urges Outer Shelf drilling
Date: 24-May-01
Country: USA
Author: Christopher Doering
The study, prepared by an advisory panel subcommittee, was expected to be approved by the entire committee on Outer Continental Shelf policy issues on Thursday and then sent to Interior Secretary Gale Norton.
However, a moratorium restricting new leasing in federally protected coastal waters could delay the plan.
The moratorium was renewed by President Bill Clinton until June 2012, but it is an executive order and could be overturned by President George W. Bush.
"If everything went perfectly, the soonest we could have a discussion to propose a lease (in five areas) would be in two to five years," Jerome Selby, chairman of the subcommittee, told Reuters.
Selby is the mayor of Kodiak Island Borough in Alaska. Other members of the panel include representatives of oil companies and state government.
But Selby said the country's energy shortage provided "merit" to arguments to opening up potentially lucrative federal lands in the outer continental shelf to oil and gas exploration even if federal restrictions and environmental opposition could delay the plan.
The subcommittee recommended the Minerals Management Services, a division of the Interior Department, select five offshore areas as test cases for energy exploration. The areas would be chosen after conducting new studies to gauge resource reserves and collecting input from local governments, residents and businesses.
The plan also would encourage offering economic incentives to promote new drilling of wells and further exploration in areas already being explored.
The MMS manages oil, natural gas and other mineral resources in 1.76 billion acres of land in the continental shelf - most of which lies off the Atlantic, Pacific, Gulf of Mexico and Alaskan coasts.
In its report issued on Tuesday, the subcommittee estimated the Outer Continental Shelf could contain 168 trillion cubic feet (TCF) of economically recoverable natural gas.
Officials have declined to discuss specific areas that could be targeted for offshore exploration, but environmental groups believe that waters off California, North Carolina, Georgia, and Florida could be studied.
"These recommendations are an attempt to roll back two decades of strong bipartisan consensus in Congress that certain parts of America's shoreline should be protected from the dangers of offshore drilling," said Richard Charter, a marine expert with Environmental Defense.
"This report, and the administration's energy plan, threaten many protected coastal areas with the looming prospect of new rigs and pollution along their shorelines," Charter said in a statement.
The White House energy plan, unveiled last week, sought to boost domestic production of oil, natural gas, coal and electricity.
Among the 105 recommendations was a measure that would have the Interior and Commerce Departments review current policies to determine if rules should be eased for drilling in the Outer Continental Shelf.
