The Interior Department has released a draft five-year plan for offshore oil drilling on the Atlantic and Pacific coasts. The draft five-year plan released by the Minerals Management Service recommends 31 offshore areas for drilling lease sales, and outlines a schedule for conducting geologic and environmental impact studies in those areas. The incoming Obama administration, however, is under no obligation to follow the plan.
Nothing will happen quickly as lease sales in the new drilling areas could not occur until 2011. Infrastructure would have to be constructed and companies would have to clear other regulatory hurdles. Still, Randal Luthi, the agency's outdoing director, says this becomes the starting point for the next administration.
A portion of the area does present another problem as some of the recommended lease sales are in the eastern Gulf of Mexico, which is still under a separate drilling moratorium. Florida lawmakers generally are against lifting that moratorium.
Powered by iNet Solutions Group ©2011 All Rights Reserved.