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Senate supports inventory of offshore oil in Florida

An attempt by U.S. Sens. Bill Nelson and Mel Martinez to kill the provision was defeated.

By WES ALLISON AND ANITA KUMAR
Published June 21, 2005

	Bush stresses his commitment against oil drilling (June 17) Editorial: Vulnerable waters (June 17) Senators shore up drilling ban (June 16)

WASHINGTON -- With oil prices nearing $60 a barrel, the good will toward Florida finally ran dry.

After agreeing last week to maintain the existing moratorium on oil and gas drilling off Florida's shores, the U.S. Senate on Tuesday moved forward with conducting an inventory of energy reserves in all U.S. waters, including the eastern Gulf of Mexico.

By a vote of 52-44, the Senate rejected an amendment sponsored by Florida's senators that would have deleted the inventory from the comprehensive energy bill now moving through the Senate.

The energy bill still must pass, and the Senate will have to reconcile its version with the House energy bill, which doesn't include the offshore inventory. But Tuesday's decision to mandate government-sponsored seismic testing for gas and oil reserves marked a historic victory for the petroleum industry and its backers in Congress, who have been pushing for an extensive inventory for at least 20 years.

Environmentalists and the senators who oppose the inventory say it is a thinly-veiled precursor to drilling in waters that are now off limits. They also point to studies showing that seismic testing -- blasting the sea floor with sound waves, to find geological formations indicative of pockets of gas and oil -- harms marine life.

"Why would we inventory an area where we are never going to drill?'' said Sen. Mel Martinez, R-Fla., who with Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., led the opposition. "The inventory is a huge problem for Florida. It tantalizes pro-drilling interests. It's like saying to pro-drilling states, 'Come and get it.' ''

Proponents of the drilling inventory argued that the country needs to know more specifically what offshore oil and gas resources might be available in future years.

Oil and gas development has been banned for more than two decades in almost all of the country's coastal acreage outside the western Gulf of Mexico. Congress enacted the first moratorium in 1981 and later expanded its reach and reaffirmed it every year. A succession of presidents have continued the moratorium since 1990. The latest extension, issued by President Bush, expires in 2012.

But there has been growing pressure to lift the drilling bans - or at least allow some states to get the moratorium waived off their coastlines - and make available new supplies of natural gas.

"We must lower the price of natural gas," said Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., arguing that the country's offshore gas resources could increase supply and address growing demand for the fuel. He said conducting an inventory of those resources was sensible.

The inventory had bipartisan support, although it was opposed by both Republicans and Democrats from states whose coastal waters are under the drilling moratorium. Twenty-seven of the 44 votes against the inventory came from senators whose states are under offshore drilling prohibitions.

"These resources belong to the entire nation," said Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M. "It's useful to know the extent of oil and gas resources underlying the Outer Continental Shelf."

Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., said if a proposal to actually drill in areas now off-limits were brought to the Senate floor "it would lose ... a filibuster would occur." But he said an inventory was only prudent because the offshore resources may one day be needed to meet the demand for natural gas.

While some senators worried that the inventory would lead to drilling, others - reflecting the views of many environmentalists - argued that the processes used, including seismic testing, would be harmful to sea life now protected from such activities in the offshore waters outside the western Gulf.

"What we're doing under this bill is something new. We are doing seismic explosions" using air guns on the ocean floor, said Nelson.

Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.

[Last modified June 21, 2005, 18:21:30]