Isra-Mart srl : Republicans edge closer to offshore drilling victory

www.isra-mart.com

Isra-Mart srl news:

Republicans pushed an expansion of offshore drilling one step closer yesterday, after voting one of three pro-oil bills through the House of Representatives.

HR 1230, authored by House Natural Resources Committee chairman Doc Hastings, would impose a deadline to sell off offshore drilling leases in the Gulf of Mexico - where the BP Deepwater Horizon disaster occurred - and off the coast of Virginia.

The bill, known as the Restarting American Offshore Leasing Now Act, will force the sale of leases for oil and gas drilling in three areas: the central and western Gulf of Mexico, and the outer continental shelf off the Virginia shore. The four leases are numbered 216, 218, 220, and 222.

The sales would begin no later than four months after the Act was enacted, with the deadlines for each lease increasing sequentially. The final deadline occurs on 1 June 2012.

The bill also blocks the environmental review process currently necessary to sell offshore oil and gas drilling leases in these regions. It says that the environmental impact statement for the 2007-2012 five-year outer continental shelf plan and the multi-sale environmental impact statement are "deemed to satisfy the requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969".

This is a significant measure, because the Obama administration announced plans a year ago to triple the length of environmental reviews for offshore oil and gas development from 30 days to 90.

The sale of the leases had been delayed. Forcing deadlines on the sales is one of a three-part legislative approach by the Republican Party to open up offshore drilling, following a full moratorium imposed by the Obama government in the wake of the BP disaster.

Soon to be voted on are HR 1229, which will set a 30-day limit for reviewing drilling applications, and HR 1231, which will open up large tracts of coastal waters for drilling, including regions in Alaska, the coast of southern California, and large parts of the eastern seaboard. This bill would mandate that the government put up areas for lease sale.

The vote once again puts the Republican Party on a collision course with the Obama administration and environmental groups over offshore drilling policy.

The White House is moving to accelerate onshore drilling in response to rising oil prices, but has maintained that a more measured approach to deepwater offshore drilling is required in the wake of last year's Gulf oil spill.