The U.S. House voted to drop an amendment that would have postponed drilling in the eastern Gulf of Mexico (GOM) from a $19.1 billion spending bill Wednesday.

House lawmakers approved the appropriations package by a vote of 380-28, forwarding the legislation to fund the Department of Interior (DOI) and related agencies to President Bush for his signature. The Senate passed its version of the bill soon afterward by a vote of 95-3.

The House backed away from its original proposal to postpone drilling in the eastern Gulf during conference with the Senate over the legislation, a Capitol Hill observer said. The House bill now parallels the Senate’s appropriation measure, which would permit DOI to fund pre-leasing and leasing activities to carry out Lease Sale 181 as it was originally sized in the Outer Continental Shelf five-year oil and gas leasing program for 1997-2002. The eastern GOM lease sale is scheduled to occur this December.

With the original House proposal now past history, offshore industry officials are hoping that the Bush administration will reconsider its decision this past summer to downsize the pending Lease Sale 181. Mostly in response to Florida lawmakers’ opposition to drilling off the state’s coasts, Interior Secretary Gale Norton in early July cut the offshore acreage that will be available to producers in 181 by three-fourths — to 1.5 million acres from 5.9 million acres.

“We thought the administration reduced 181 in response to what the House passed,” said one offshore source, adding that was no longer a factor now. “Does this mean the administration will re-evaluate its action?”

He believes that expanding the lease sale is especially important in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. “Natural gas is a North American commodity, and we have a lot of it within our borders” that is ripe for exploration and production, if only the Bush administration would give the go-ahead, he said.

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