Wider offshore drilling possible

Washington —- The Interior Department has issued a detailed proposal for widespread oil and gas drilling off both the Pacific and Atlantic coasts in areas that have not had energy exploration for decades.

The proposal, issued in the Bush administration’s final days last week, calls for oil and gas leases to be made available within two to six years “in areas of hydrocarbon potential” from New England to Florida and off the length of California.

Until recently these regions of the Outer Continental Shelf have been declared off limits to drilling by Congress and by presidential executive order.

It will be up to President-elect Barack Obama whether to proceed with Interior’s revised five-year leasing plan that would cover the years 2010 to 2015. He could scale it back or scrap it altogether. Interior officials said they wanted to give the next administration maximum flexibility to expand offshore drilling.

The Atlantic Coast, including Georgia, does not have great potential for either oil or natural gas, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Slightly more natural gas is potentially available.

Colorado Sen. Ken Salazar, Obama’s choice as interior secretary, has indicated he probably will want to scale back the Bush administration’s offshore drilling agenda.

“There are places in the Outer Continental Shelf that are appropriate for drilling. There may be other places that are off limits,” Salazar said during his Senate confirmation hearing and before the revised plan was issued.

Congressional Democrats also have indicated that while they have no intention to return to drilling bans that covered 85 percent of the Outer Continental Shelf, some areas —- especially off California and the Northeast —- are likely to be protected again.

The proposed drilling agenda from Interior’s Minerals Management Service, however, schedules three lease sales, in 2012-2015, off California and five leases off the Atlantic coast, including one in an area stretching from Maine to New Jersey and another in an area from South Carolina to Florida. Three leases are planned for the mid-Atlantic region including one, previously announced, off Virginia.

—- Staff writer Stacy Shelton contributed to this article.