Oil industry urges Congress to reverse Obama administration's drilling rollback

The oil industry’s most powerful trade group is already looking to Capitol Hill to reverse the Obama administration’s retreat from expanded offshore oil-and-gas drilling.

The Interior Department last week abandoned plans to sell oil-and-gas leases off the Atlantic Coast and in the eastern Gulf of Mexico from 2012 to 2017.

American Petroleum Institute President Jack Gerard told reporters Monday he’s hopeful Interior will change its mind, but also made clear he’ll lobby Congress to mandate wider development. He slammed “unelected bureaucrats” for making what he called harmful decisions.

“We hope Interior will reconsider,” Gerard said on a conference call. “We also think that congressional action and oversight are needed.”

Asked about seeking legislation that would require expanded leasing, Gerard replied, “We will pursue whatever avenues we think are in the best interests of the American people.”

Several Capitol Hill lawmakers – including incoming House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Doc Hastings (R-Wash.) – have criticized the drilling reversal.

Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Chairman Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.) last week said he was “disappointed” with the decision but offered no hints about his plans.

But liberal Democrats such as Rep. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) and Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) praised the Obama administration for backing off.

Interior called the decision a nod to safety and regulatory problems laid bare by the BP oil spill. But Gerard, citing Interior’s beefed up safety rules and industry's post-spill efforts to boost precautions, said the spill shouldn’t be an excuse to pull back development plans.

“This will block the creation of new jobs, reduce domestic energy production and deprive the government of much-needed revenue,” Gerard said.

“There are thousands of jobs at stake, billions of dollars in revenues at the time when the nation needs it most,” he added.

Gerard suggested he didn’t expect a big legislative push from Congress immediately, noting that oversight efforts will come first. “I don’t think anyone has put together a specific proposal to address it. I think you will see an effort to better understand the thinking behind it,” Gerard said.

The administration is also delaying upcoming lease sales in the western and central Gulf of Mexico until late 2011 or early 2012, a move Gerard criticized as well.

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