Democratic leaders showed varying degrees of interest Wednesday in opening up new areas for oil production, as public opinion veers in favor of drilling.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) told reporters that expanded offshore drilling, which the Republicans have long supported, is not off the table. He said he opposes giving the states the right to choose whether to drill off their coasts, but also said Democrats are “taking a look at that.”

His Republican counterpart, Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.), said Wednesday that there was an “increasing possibility that we may be able to accomplish something.” He signaled a willingness to consider ways to boost energy production from renewable sources, such as wind, solar and biomass.

But he warned that adding too much into one bill could make a compromise measure unwieldy. “Small mouthfuls have a better chance around here,” McConnell said.

In the House, Democratic leaders have shown no interest in opening up coastal waters or the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) in Alaska. That was reiterated at a meeting of leaders and committee chairmen Wednesday afternoon, and “there was no dissension,” an aide said.

But House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) is considering encouraging production in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska to the Democrats’ array of energy proposals.

The NPR-A, as it is called, is on the North Slope of Alaska, west of ANWR. It is already open to leasing for oil exploration. Democrats are considering ways to speed up the permitting process in order to “sweeten the pot,” an aide said.

The idea would be to add it to the Democrat’s signature “Use It or Lose It” proposal, which seeks to take away federal land leased to oil and gas companies if they don’t produce from it.

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) said NPR-A has better potential than ANWR because it’s closer to facilities for transporting the oil.

“There are 22 million acres in the National Petroleum Reserve area, which is much closer to a transportation system,” Hoyer said.

Republicans accused Democrats of seeking “political cover” to hide the fact that they don’t want to take the now popular step of allowing drilling in more areas.

“This is a smokescreen,” said Michael Steel, spokesman for House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio).

As the price of gasoline has shot above $4 a gallon, the two parties have increasingly deflected the blame in order to avoid a backlash from voters. But as the issue tops the list of public concerns, it is becoming increasingly clear that the two sides need to appear to be trying to solve the problem in order to avoid voter backlash in November.

Senate Republican leadership has floated a plan they say is a compromise, dropping a provision calling for drilling in Alaska and adding conservation measures like incentives for more fuel-efficient cars. Senate Democrats, meanwhile, continued to craft a bill that targets market speculation on oil futures, but on Wednesday suggested they might be open to adding supply-side provisions that Republicans have long supported. Adding to the pressure to craft a compromise is a bipartisan group of more than 10 senators seeking middle ground.

Public opinion polls have shown a shift towards support of expanded offshore drilling, putting Democrats in the tough spot of jettisoning their longstanding concerns about the damaging environmental effects of the practice. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) said Wednesday that he wants to “limit offshore drilling if there is any environmental impact.” He added that there are more than 30 million acres leased by oil companies that they should use to explore. “They ought to lose their leases if they aren’t going to use it,” Durbin said.

However, he also stated, “Beyond that, if there is a suggestion of some new area to go into, I’ll look at it.”

Democrats say it would take about a decade before new exploration would affect prices, but Republicans say that not expanding access now would only make gas prices rise even further into the future.

Reid said he “absolutely” hears concerns about a lack of drilling, but he said “there are very few things that we can do to lower the price of gas immediately.” He cited taking oil out of the emergency oil reserve, reducing market speculation and adding more renewable fuels to the mix.

“At whatever point we turn to this, there will be an effort made on a bipartisan basis to make sure that the package that ultimately passes the Senate would actually make a difference,” McConnell said.