Underwater resources: Oil companies eye California’s offshore leases

The Senate’s vote this week to open more of the Gulf of Mexico to oil exploration raises the question of whether California’s moratorium on offshore drilling could someday end. And it casts a renewed spotlight on the energy reserves lying just beyond the state’s shore.

The federal government estimates that California’s coastal waters could hold 10.13 billion barrels of oil. That’s almost the same amount believed to lie beneath the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, which the Bush administration has pushed hard to open to exploration.

It’s also enough to supply all the oil Americans consume for about 17 months. It would feed California’s total oil appetite for 15 years.

But whether the nation is desperate enough for oil supplies to overcome the state’s deep-seated aversion to offshore drilling remains to be seen.

San Francisco Chronicle