In a letter to U.S. Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt this weekSen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) urged Interior’s Minerals ManagementService to shutdown exploration on 40 offshore California leases,for which producers paid $1.25 billion initially.

The MMS will decide by June 30 whether to extend a suspension onthe leases, which are held by Aera Energy, a partnership of Mobiland Shell; Conoco Inc.; Nuevo Energy and Noble Affiliatessubsidiary Samedan Oil Corp. The leases are located mainly off thecoast of Santa Barbara and hold estimated probable reserves of 1billion bbl of oil and 500 Bcf of gas. They currently are under asuspension while the state conducts a study that will determine theimpact of continued oil and gas development offshore.

“No matter the size, shape, or number of offshore oil platforms,Californians strongly oppose oil drilling off our coast,” Feinsteintold Babbitt. She estimated that “ocean-dependent industry”contributes $17 billion/year to the state’s economy and 70% ofCalifornians participate in beach activities each year. “One oilspill could dramatically endanger this national treasure,” shesaid, noting that one almost did just that in 1969, when a 200,000bbl crude oil spill spread from the Channel Islands near SantaBarbara south to the Mexican border.

President Clinton extended a moratorium on additional offshoreCalifornia leases last year. Currently California has 43 producingleases, which have produced 900 million bbl of oil since the late1960s. Only five new offshore platforms have been built in the1990s. If the suspension on the 40 leases in question is extended,the companies could proceed with exploration wells later this yearand begin development in the next few years. The moratorium onadditional leasing will last until 2012.

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