US opens new areas for offshore drilling

The Obama administration yesterday announced a five-year plan it had proposed for offshore oil drilling, under which new areas in the Gulf of Mexico and Alaska would be opened to drilling. Simultaneously, it barred development along the east and west coasts.

The plan, however, failed to meet the expectations of both the environmentalists and the oil industry. The plan would make available broader parts of the Arctic Ocean off the North Slope of Alaska and in the Cook Inlet off the state's southern shore.

However, unlike an administration plan announced shortly before the Deepwater Horizon blowout and consequent oil spill in April 2010, all the eastern seaboard had been withdrawn from leasing consideration.

According to interior secretary Ken Salazar the new plan incorporated the lessons learned from the BP explosion, that took a toll of 11 workers and dumped around 5 million barrels of crude into the gulf. He added, the proposal struck a balance between resource development and environmental protection, while acknowledging that drilling beneath 5,000 feet of water in the gulf or in the unforgiving conditions in the Arctic would never be free of risk.

The plan, spread over from 2012 to 17 drew criticism from oil industry officials, as they felt it limited oil exploration at a time when the economy was in desperate need of jobs.

However, according to Salazar, oil production was at its peak since 2003 and that natural gas production was at its highest in 30 years. He added his proposed offshore lease strategy opened up over 75 per cent of undiscovered and technically recoverable oil and gas resources to drilling.