Tuesday, January 26, 2010 1:00 PM
API: Atlantic Drilling Probe 'Long Overdue'
By Amy Harder, NationalJournal.com
The oil industry welcomed the Interior Department's Monday announcement that it would soon begin an analysis of possible drilling on the Atlantic Ocean floor, although American Petroleum Institute President Jack Gerard said the decision was "long overdue."
"We believe this is a logical extension of something that should have happened some time ago," Gerard said in a conference call with reporters. He added that the last Congress mandated that the Interior secretary do this.
In 2008, Congress lifted its moratorium on oil and natural gas exploration along much of the Atlantic Ocean.
Gerard outlined what he hopes President Obama will focus on in his State of the Union address Wednesday night. The president is expected to focus chiefly on job creation and the economy, which Gerard said fits squarely with domestic oil and natural gas development.
"Surely part of that plan should include increasing -- not decreasing -- supplies of affordable and reliable resources of oil and natural gas," Gerard said.
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