President Barack Obama’s new Interior Secretary nominee hasn’t been confirmed by the Senate yet — much less sworn in — but she’s already facing pressure to expand offshore drilling.  More »

A change in the leadership of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee could give coastal states their best chance in years of winning a greater share of federal revenues for energy produced near their shores. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, could advance a new plan next year.  More »

A Republican plan to open up ANWR, the eastern Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic waters for oil and gas drilling wouldn’t be nearly as lucrative as its backers suggest, according to a new analysis.  More »

The Obama administration ignored the wishes of coastal leaders when assembling a plan for offshore drilling near their shores, says a group of Republican governors from Texas, Louisiana and other states.  More »

The House of Representatives today rejected an Obama administration plan for selling offshore drilling leases over the next five years and instead voted to replace it with a more aggressive GOP alternative.  More »

The Obama administration on Thursday finalized a five-year plan for offshore drilling that focuses on allowing development in already- explored areas of the Gulf of Mexico and the Arctic to the chagrin of oil and gas companies who were hoping for more territory. Federal officials also said there was “significant” industry interest in drilling in the Cook Inlet near Anchorage.  More »

Federal officials will unseal nearly 600 secret bids for offshore oil and gas leases on Wednesday, during the first auction of drilling rights in the central Gulf of Mexico since the Deepwater Horizon disaster. Pent-up demand for the acreage, big discoveries in the region recently and high oil prices earlier this year are all expected to contribute to a robust sale.  More »

A leading House Republican today insisted the Obama administration was on track to blow a July 1 deadline to finish a plan for selling offshore drilling leases over the next five years. But administration officials said the five-year schedule of drilling leases would be issued by July 1, with a first auction scheduled this year.  More »

House Republican leaders today unveiled a plan to expand oil and gas drilling in the nation’s lands and waters — and use the royalties from those projects to pay for better bridges and new roads.  More »

Oil industry leaders and their Capitol Hill allies complained Tuesday that the Obama administration’s plan to hike the minimum bid for offshore drilling leases and shorten the duration of those contracts will discourage companies from making bets on marginal fields in the Gulf of Mexico and ultimately curb domestic energy production.  More »

The Obama administration today unveiled a plan for selling offshore drilling leases over the next five years that focuses on exploration in the Gulf of Mexico, proposes three auctions in the Arctic and rules out development in unexplored areas along the Atlantic coast.  More »

The Obama administration is set today to unveil a plan for selling offshore drilling leases over the next five years that focuses on exploration in the Gulf of Mexico.  More »