According to news reports from Reuters, The Associated Press and other major news outlets, the Obama Administration has okayed Alaska offshore drilling, while rejecting East Coast exploration, including the eastern Gulf of Mexico, for at least seven years.
A senior administration official told reporters this morning that because of the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, the Interior Department will move cautiously before approving any drilling offshore Alaska.
The administration official also said Interior would not put up for lease any new tracts off Alaska until 2012 as part of its five-year drilling plan.
At 1:30 EST today Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar and Director of the Bureau of Ocean Energy, Management, Regulation and Enforcement Michael Bromwich will hold a conference call to provide an update on the details of the nation’s offshore oil and gas drilling policy.
See story in Dec. 5 issue, available online for subscribers at noon, Friday, Dec. 3, at www.PetroleumNews.com
