By Justin Blum
Washington Post Staff Writer
For decades, drilling for oil and natural gas off of much of the U.S. coastline has been off limits. But this year, with Congress facing high energy prices and a fresh lobbying push from oil companies and their supporters, even drilling opponents acknowledge that they may lose their fight to keep bans in place.
A flurry of legislation from members of both parties would allow drilling for oil and natural gas in new areas of the Outer Continental Shelf -- land that lies under federal waters that surround the United States and typically stretch from three to 200 miles offshore.
One of the proposed laws, co-sponsored by Sen. John W. Warner (R-Va.), would extend current prohibitions but allow governors to ask the federal government to opt out of the ban and allow drilling for natural gas.
At a Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee hearing last week, oil and gas industry officials asked Congress to further open the Outer Continental Shelf for drilling.
At the same time, the U.S. Minerals Management Service has released a draft plan calling for vast new areas of the Outer Continental Shelf be considered for oil and natural gas drilling. The plan calls for drilling in a portion of the eastern Gulf of Mexico and some areas off of Virginia and Alaska. About 2 million acres in the gulf could be opened without any special congressional or presidential approval. The other areas would require such approval.
States, lawmakers and environmentalists have beaten back past drilling attempts on the Outer Continental Shelf, long prized by energy companies for its rich resources, which some in the industry say could satisfy commercial natural gas requirements for the next three decades. And several lawmakers -- including some in Florida, a longtime offshore-drilling opponent -- still object.
But this year, a confluence of events -- high energy prices, support from key lawmakers, a possible solution that would satisfy Florida and new technology the industry claims reduces the risk of spills -- may be the combination that opens the Outer Continental Shelf, those on both sides of the issue agree.
"This year," said Melinda Pierce, a lobbyist for the Sierra Club, which has been pressing lawmakers to maintain drilling bans, "the threat is greater than ever."
Oil companies are optimistic, if cautious -- earlier this year, it seemed likely that a section of the Arctic Natural Wildlife Refuge in Alaska would be opened for drilling, only to see the Senate uphold a ban at the last minute.
"We think there's a chance that [Outer Continental Shelf drilling] may well get through this time," said Red Cavaney, president of the American Petroleum Institute, an industry trade group in Washington. "And we're going to work very hard on that."
Offshore drilling is allowed in large portions of the gulf, off the Texas, Mississippi and Louisiana costs . But it is banned in federal waters along the remainder of the U.S. coastline -- including most of Alaska. Bans were added incrementally, beginning with the areas off the California and Massachusetts coasts in the early 1980s.
Lawmakers were particularly worried about offshore oil spills, the most notorious of which occurred in 1969, when an oil platform blew out off of Santa Barbara, Calif. That accident spilled millions of gallons of crude, marring miles of beaches, killing wildlife and galvanizing opposition to offshore drilling.
But now the oil industry is using high energy prices and unlikely advocates-- hurricanes Rita and Katrina -- to make its case. Companies argue the storms showed that offshore production in the gulf could withstand serious storms without significant incident because of technological advances in oil production.
Powerful business groups are working alongside oil companies to lobby Congress over Outer Continental Shelf drilling, including the National Association of Manufacturers. Big chemical companies and others that rely heavily on natural gas also are working to allow drilling, saying it would help add supply and lower prices.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce recently took the pro-drilling message on the road for the first time, holding a forum in Mobile, Ala., designed to show the state the financial benefits it could reap from new offshore drilling-- including non-exempted royalty payments from oil and gas drawn off its shore. "Alabama is the first step," said William Kovacs, vice president for environment at the chamber. "We've got to begin to build support at the state level."
Offshore drilling is part of the larger oil company agenda for this session of Congress. Near the top of the industry's priority list is an effort to beat back proposals that would force companies to pay higher taxes. Some lawmakers have been calling for a windfall-profits tax or other measures designed to collect more money from cash-flush oil companies.
Oil industry officials are especially concerned about a budget measure approved by the Senate that would change the way oil profits are calculated, resulting in bigger tax bills.
The Minerals Management Service has estimated that the entire Outer Continental Shelf -- including areas where drilling is allowed and banned-- holds 86 billion barrels of undiscovered and recoverable oil and 420 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. The Chamber of Commerce says the natural gas resources could satisfy all industrial and commercial needs for almost 30 years. By comparison, ANWR is estimated by the U.S. Geological Survey to hold 10.4 billion barrels of recoverable oil and 8.6 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.
The United States consumed about 7.5 billion barrels of oil and 22 trillion cubic feet of natural gas in 2005, according to Energy Department estimates.
Some supporters of offshore drilling think they have found a strategy to break through opposition that has kept the prohibitions in place for years-- take care of Florida. Environmentalists acknowledge that pro-drilling forces are gaining an edge, mostly because they have been able to sway some of the influential anti-drilling Florida lawmakers.
Rep. Richard W. Pombo (R-Calif.), chairman of the House Resources Committee, is optimistic about building support for a measure that would ban offshore drilling unless state governments decide to allow it.
"Chances are good that we can get this passed," Pombo said.
Pombo's plan has given some comfort to moderate Republicans in Florida.
Some believe Pombo's approach could give their state more protection than they now have under bans that must be renewed annually.
Rep. Connie Mack (R-Fla.), an opponent of offshore drilling, supports Pombo's idea, said spokesman Jeff Cohen. "If we could simply codify the existing moratorium, we would do that," Cohen said. "The protections that Florida enjoys are tenuous."
The Sierra Club's Pierce said that satisfying Florida is key to proponents of drilling.
In the Senate, Pombo's approach is less certain, though sentiment exists for at least some new drilling. Florida Sens. Bill Nelson (D) and Mel Martinez (R) recently unveiled a plan that would open a sliver of the eastern gulf to new drilling but keep a ban everywhere else.
Sen. Pete V. Domenici (R-N.M.), chairman of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, and the committee's ranking Democrat, Sen. Jeff Bingaman (N.M.), have introduced a plan to open a larger portion of the eastern gulf.
Environmentalists said they are uniting with local business groups and others worried about possible pollution to oppose drilling legislation.
They are highlighting accidents that have occurred over the years. The biggest recent offshore domestic spill happened in 2000, about 75 miles off the Louisiana coast, when an oil rig was being towed to a drilling site, according to the Minerals Management Service. An anchor fell into the water and struck a pipeline, causing nearly 100,000 gallons of oil to seep out.
Opponents say that even without accidents, drilling byproducts pollute the water and damage coastlines. They say offshore drilling is not worth the risk.
"You look back even a few years globally and you can see that we have incident after incident off coastlines with tremendous long-term damage,"
said Rep. Lois Capps (D-Calif.).
