US House Appropriations panel OKs OCS drilling ban elimination

Washington (Platts)--10May2006

The US House Appropriations Committee Wednesday voted 37 to 25 to lift
moratoria that have prevented the government from offering natural gas leases
in most of the Outer Continental Shelf for more than 20 years.

The vote came as part of committee debate on a $25.9 billion fiscal 2007
spending bill for the Interior Department and related agencies. The committee
was continuing to debate the overall bill Tuesday afternoon, but was expected
to approve it.

Language blocking oil and gas leasing in the US OCS with the exceptions
of the Gulf of Mexico and some areas offshore Alaska have been included in
Interior spending bills since 1982.

The amendment was sponsored by represent Pennsylvania Republican
Representative John Peterson, who has been pushing to open more offshore areas
to natural gas exploration and development as a way to increase supplies and
bring gas prices down.

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