U.S. Senate Passes Gulf Drilling Bill, Set for Showdown with House

WASHINGTON, DC, August 1, 2006 (ENS) – The Senate today approved legislation that would greatly expand oil and gas drilling in the Gulf of Mexico, but proponents acknowledge the measure faces an uncertain future. Lawmakers must reconcile the bill with a much more expansive version passed last month by the House of Representatives and neither side appears willing to give ground and forge a compromise.

The Senate bill, which passed by a vote of 71-25, would open 8.3 million acres of the eastern Gulf of Mexico currently closed to oil and gas drilling and share federal leasing revenues with four Gulf Coast states. It bans drilling within 125 miles of the Florida panhandle and within 230 miles of Florida’s west coast until 2022.

Legislation approved by the House is much more aggressive. It would completely lift the 25 year long drilling moratorium that covers most of the nation’s Pacific and Atlantic coasts, as well as the portion of the Gulf of Mexico targeted by the Senate bill.
Envrironment News Service