Senate OKs drilling in Gulf

Burr, Dole vote for bill with strict limits

By Mary M. Shaffrey
Winston-Salem Journal

WASHINGTON

Offshore drilling along the Outer Banks will likely remain off-limits this year, but the issue is expected to come up again next year, those on both sides of the debate say.

The Senate voted 71-25 yesterday to open only specific areas of the Gulf of Mexico to oil and natural-gas exploration. The bill also gives Florida a buffer of at least 100 miles, and mandates that nearly 40 percent of the royalties collected from offshore drilling go to Gulf Coast states for coastal restoration.

The House passed its own drilling proposal earlier this year that would open the entire U.S. coastline - including areas more than 100 miles off the coast of the Outer Banks - to drilling.

Both bills will now go to a conference committee for negotiations, but Democrats in the Senate have said they will oppose any conference bill that does not resemble the one they passed yesterday.

House leaders have expressed reluctance to compromise.

Experts said that with little time remaining before November elections, it was going to be difficult for Congress to find an agreement.

Both of North Carolina's senators voted for the bill.