The Obama administration Monday said it would
open up another area of the Gulf of Mexico for oil and gas
exploration, the third such expansion of mining there since the 2010
BP oil rig disaster.
The proposed sale of leases for 15.4 million hectares of the
central Gulf is to take place in March 2013, US Secretary of Interior
Ken Slazar said. The new area could contain reserves of up to nearly
1 billion barrels of oil and massive natural gas, officials said.
The area ranges from 5 to 370 kilometres off shore in depths from
3 metres to over 3,600 metres.
Previously, since December 2011, the Obama administration offered
24.3 million hectares for lease bids. So far, it has taken in 2.25
billion dollars for leases on 1.4 million hectares, the interior
department said in its statement.
Oil exploration in the Gulf of Mexico has been a sore subject
since the 2010 massive oil spill following the explosion of the
Deep Horizon oil rig that killed 11 workers. It was believed to have
been the largest accidental oil spill in industry history.
President Barack Obama has moved to open more exploration for oil
in some areas that have traditionally been off limits, or at least
contentious due to environmental concerns. But he has also pushed
through investments in wind and solar energy and biodiesel
development and issued regulations to cut car mileage in half by 2025
under his "all-of-the-above" all-inclusive energy strategy.
"I will not walk away from the promise of clean energy," Obama
said in January. "I will not cede the wind or solar or battery
industry to China or Germany because we refuse to make the same
commitment here."
Stricter safety and environmental regulations on ocean drilling
followed the BP disaster. Just last week, Royal Dutch Shell Plc was
forced to put off drilling for oil in Alaskan Arctic waters until
next year's spring thaw, after it discovered damages on a
spill-containment dome -a new US requirement for ocean drilling.
Since Obama took office, domestic oil production is at an
eight-year high and natural gas flow is at an all-time high,
officials said. Foreign oil imports account for less than 50 per cent
of America's consumption of 19 million barrels a day - the lowest
percentage since 1995.
