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Senate passes drilling bill

In this undated photo, a boat nears an offshore oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico near the coast of Campeche, Mexico. The Senate voted Tuesday to expand oil and gas exploration in the central Gulf. (File Associated Press / The Spokesman-Review)
Margaret Talev McClatchy
In this undated photo, a boat nears an offshore oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico near the coast of Campeche, Mexico. The Senate voted Tuesday to expand oil and gas exploration in the central Gulf. (File Associated Press / The Spokesman-Review)

WASHINGTON – The Senate voted Tuesday to open 8.3 million acres in the Gulf of Mexico to oil and gas exploration in a bid to boost domestic production and stabilize natural gas prices that have driven up the costs of home heating, agriculture, manufacturing and alternative fuel.

But supporters cautioned that it may not become law unless energy and manufacturing lobbyists persuade the House of Representatives to scale back its broader ambition to scrap a 25-year-old nationwide moratorium on all new offshore drilling from Alaska and California to the East Coast.

“We have to have the response from the interested groups that have been so keen on having this happen, to now go and say, ‘Hey, this is all we can get done, and it’s better to do this than to do nothing,’ ” said Sen. Mel Martinez, R-Fla.

Eighteen Democrats joined 53 Republicans in the 71-25 Senate vote.

Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., lead sponsor of the legislation with help from Democrat Mary Landrieu of Louisiana, predicted it would mark the beginning of the end of the moratorium – the scenario that drove environmental activists to oppose the Senate bill.

“The precedent is going to be broken here,” Domenici said. “We’re going to show nobody will be harmed, and America can prosper.”

Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid of Nevada admonished, “Senator Domenici should declare victory and keep quiet.”

The House-passed bill would allow drilling off all coastal states starting 50 miles out. State legislatures would be allowed to push the buffer to 100 miles. Senate leaders say their members would reject that.

Under the Senate bill, new exploration could occur in a stretch of the Gulf of Mexico about 125 miles south of the Florida Panhandle, 235 miles west of Tampa and 325 miles from Naples.

Supporters say it could yield close to 6 trillion cubic feet of gas and 1.2 billion barrels of oil. Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi and Texas stand to share 37.5 percent of royalties under the legislation, with the federal government getting the rest.