US House in voice vote rejects bid to lift OCS gas drilling ban

Washington (Platts)--19May2005

The US House Thursday defeated by voice vote an amendment to the fiscal year
2006 Department of Interior spending bill that would have opened to natural
gas exploration and production Outer Continental Shelf areas now under
drilling moratoria. Despite the adverse voice vote, a roll call vote on the
amendment was expected later Thursday. 

The amendment, which was introduced by Rep. John Peterson
(Republican-Pennsylvania) and drew support from several Democratic and coastal
state lawmakers, would lift for the gas industry moratoria that have been
attached to appropriations bills since 1983 on drilling off California, the
west coast of Florida, and other areas. Supporters argued that reversing the
moratoria was necessary to protect US manufacturing jobs, which have been hurt
by rising gas prices, and said advances in drilling technology have made gas
development environmentally safe. Coastal state opponents, however, said
lifting the moratoria would harm their tourism industries and interfere with
military testing.

This story was originally published in Platts Natural Gas Alert
http://www.naturalgasalert.platts.com

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