WASHINGTON, DC�Florida Gov. Jeb Bush has urged the US Interior Department not to hold Eastern Gulf of Mexico Lease Sale 181, although the tracts would be more than 100 miles from his state's shore.
MMS proposed that the December sale offer 1,033 blocks covering 5.949 million acres in the western portion of the eastern Gulf. The tracts would start 15 miles off the Alabama coastline and extend south into the deepwater region.
MMS estimates the sale area could contain up to 370 million bbl of oil and 3.2 tcf of gas. Water depths are 108-10,980 ft.
If held, the sale would be the first in the Eastern Gulf since 1988. The next eastern Gulf sale is proposed for 2012 (OGJ Online, Dec. 7, 2000).
Gov. Bush protested the sale in a letter to acting Interior Sec. Tom Slonaker on Jan. 23. Gale Norton, the Interior secretary nominee, likely will decide the issue if the Senate confirms her nomination this week.
The Florida state government consistently has opposed leasing within 100 miles of its coastline, stating that potential environmental damage could threaten its tourist industry. When the Minerals Management Service (MMS) proposed the sale, it noted that the blocks all were farther than 100 miles from the Florida coast.
However, Gov. Bush maintained drilling in the region would threaten Florida's natural resources.
"We recognize that the Lease Sale 181 area is partially westward of the Florida-Alabama state line, and we have great respect for our neighboring state's economic interests," Bush wrote. "However, Florida has distinct economic and environmental concerns with any new leasing proposals in the Eastern Gulf of Mexico Planning Area. It is my hope that Interior will recognize that the entire Eastern Gulf of Mexico Planning Area contains many sensitive marine and coastal resources, and not advance any new leasing in this area."
Bush said opposition to offshore drilling is widespread in the state. "Few other issues so completely unite Floridians," he said.
Bush's position on the lease sale contrasts with the oft-stated views of his brother, US President George W. Bush, who has called for greater access to potential energy resources.
Asked about Gov. Bush's letter on ABC's Sunday morning program This Week, Vice-President Dick Cheney suggested the administration would not allow drilling in the region. "President Bush made it clear during the campaign that he supported the moratorium both off Florida and off California," Cheney said.
Tom Michels, a National Ocean Industries Association spokesman, said the energy industry believes the proposed lease sale addresses environmental concerns previously raised by Florida.
"We think that the sale as proposed by the MMS takes those objections into account, and further objections are really outweighed by the extreme importance of Sale 181 to our country's energy future," Michels said. "We are faced with a surge in natural gas demand, and Florida specifically is faced with a growing population and surging energy demand within the state."
He noted that Lease Sale 181 is adjacent to the Mississippi Canyon region of the central Gulf, which has prolific gas production.
Because of the pressing need to develop new domestic sources of natural gas, Michels believes the sale will be held. "I'm fairly confident that when the dust settles on the comment process, people are going to realize that this sale is important to our country, and therefore will approve it," he said.
