Outer

Developing Alaska’s Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) would, among other things, be an important factor in reducing risks for the proposed natural gas pipeline from the North Slope to Lower 48 states, a study prepared for Shell Exploration and Production has found.

U.S. producers are planning to direct more capital spending to drill on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) and in onshore natural gas basins, but they are not averse to investing in alternative energy to help the country transition away from fossil fuels, according to Deloitte LLP’s annual oil and natural gas industry survey.

U.S. producers are planning to direct their capital spending toward more drilling on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) and in onshore natural gas basins, but they are not averse to investing in alternative energy to help the country transition away from fossil fuels, according to Deloitte LLP’s annual oil and natural gas industry survey.

While Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois has said he would support limited expansion of oil and natural gas drilling on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS), the head of Frost & Sullivan’s North American energy practice said she couldn’t rule out the possibility that he may reinstate presidential restrictions on drilling if elected next week.

Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC) introduced legislation Wednesday to permanently erase the bans on oil and natural gas drilling on the federal Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) and oil shale development in the Intermountain West.

President Bush last Monday removed the executive ban on oil and natural gas drilling in much of the federal Outer Continental Shelf (OCS), and called on Congress to follow suit and lift its long-term prohibition on drilling in key offshore areas. But the congressional Democrat leadership, which is focused more on potential excess energy speculation and existing oil and gas leases, gave the president the cold shoulder.

A vote on whether to remove the congressional ban on oil and natural gas leasing on most of the federal Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) was placed in limbo Thursday after a House Appropriations Committee abruptly adjourned a markup when Republicans tried to force the panel to take up the Interior Department spending bill that addresses the offshore ban, CQ Today reported.

With public sentiment shifting in favor of repealing the ban on drilling in the federal Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) to deal with record gasoline prices and the highest sustained natural gas prices ever, the issue took center stage in Washington, DC, and on the campaign trail last week.

A Republican proposal to lift the 27-year-old ban on oil and natural gas leasing on most of the federal Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) was met with a wall of opposition from Democrats last Wednesday.