Oil drilling off Alaska, Virginia proposed by US

May 1, 2007, 12:06 GMT

Washington - The ecologically sensitive areas off the coasts of Alaska and Virginia would become fair game for oil and gas drilling under a proposal by the US government that would also expand drilling in the Gulf of Mexico.

The US Interior Department on Monday proposed a five-year programme of leasing that could produce 10 billion barrels of oil and 45 trillion cubic feet of natural gas over 40 years. Total net benefits for the government would be 170 billion dollars.

Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne said the targeted drilling regions were a 'vital source of domestic oil and natural gas for America, especially in light of sharply rising energy prices.'

'This energy production will create jobs, provide greater economic and energy security for America and can be accomplished in a safe and environmentally sound manner,' Kempthorne said, according to a statement on the department's website.

Both the Alaska and Virginia sites have been closed for new drilling by a 25-year moratorium placed by Congress on exploration off the US Atlantic and Pacific coasts, The Washington Post reported Tuesday.

Congress has 60 days to stop the Republican administration's leasing plan for Virginia and Alaska. Last year, the legislature, which has since switched from Republican to Democratic control, approved the expansion of drilling in the Gulf of Mexico.

The leases could start as soon as 2008. The plan calls for drilling by 2011 in Bristol Bay along the Alaskan Peninsula, where the Exxon Valdez oil spill occurred in 1989.

Battle lines were forming over the decision by late Monday with environmental groups like the National Outer Continental Shelf Coalition opposing it.

'The Bush administration is zeroing in on the most environmentally sensitive areas for offshore drilling,' the coalition's Richard Charter told the Post.

The American Petroleum Institute was 'encouraged' by the plan and pushed for opening up more of the US offshore areas to drilling.