Continental

House Republicans are offering an alternative to the Obama administration’s plan for drilling in the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS), which would nearly double the number of lease sales now proposed over the 2012-2017 period and open up new areas — the Mid-Atlantic and Southern California — to exploration.

House Republicans are offering an alternative to the Obama administration’s plan for drilling in the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS), which would nearly double the number of lease sales now proposed over the 2012-2017 period and open up new areas — the Mid-Atlantic and Southern California — to exploration.

U.S. Department of Interior (DOI) Secretary Ken Salazar Thursday offered the final version of the department’s OCS [Outer Continental Shelf] Oil and Gas Leasing Program for 2012-2017, sticking to tried and true areas in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) and holding out delayed possibilities in Alaska.

U.S. Department of Interior (DOI) Secretary Ken Salazar Thursday offered the final version of the department’s OCS [Outer Continental Shelf] Oil and Gas Leasing Program for 2012-2017, sticking to tried and true areas in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) and holding out delayed possibilities in Alaska.

U.S. Department of Interior (DOI) Secretary Ken Salazar said Tuesday the finalized version of the five-year program for Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) leasing expected to be released within days will follow a “targeted” format. He also affirmed it was “highly likely” that Royal Dutch Shell plc will be granted the permits to drill exploratory wells in Alaska’s Chukchi Sea this summer.

Oil and natural gas production in North Dakota’s Bakken Shale continued climbing in April, according to a state Industrial Commission preliminary report released Wednesday. A continuing supply glut wreaks havoc on prices for Bakken crude, according to an analysis from RBN Energy LLC.

In what will be the final lease sale under the existing five-year Outer Continental Shelf plan, Interior Department last Thursday said it would make available to producers in June all unleased areas in the Central Gulf of Mexico (GOM) Planning Area offshore Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama, including 7,276 blocks on about 38.6 million acres.

The Obama administration’s five-year (2012-2017) plan for oil and natural gas leasing in the Outer Continental Shelf came under heavy attack last Wednesday from Republican members of the House Natural Resources Committee, who claimed that it reinstated the ban on shelf drilling that was lifted in 2008. The head of Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) defended the proposed plan, saying it focuses on offshore areas where oil and gas deposits are known to be the richest and also are verifiable by reliable seismic data.

The Obama administration’s five-year (2012-2017) plan for oil and natural gas leasing in the Outer Continental Shelf came under heavy attack Wednesday from Republican members of the House Natural Resources Committee, who claimed that it reinstated the ban on shelf drilling that had been lifted in 2008. The head of Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) defended the proposed plan, saying it focuses on offshore areas where oil and gas deposits are known to be the richest and also are verifiable by reliable seismic data.