U.S. to include offshore Atlantic in new drilling plan: WSJ

[January 27, 2015]  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Obama administration will propose a new five-year plan for offshore oil and gas drilling as soon as Tuesday that will include areas of the Atlantic, the Wall Street Journal reported.

The Interior Department's offshore drilling proposal for 2017 to 2022 is expected to include opening up federally-owned waters off Virginia and North and South Carolina, the report said citing people familiar with the plan.

A spokeswoman for the Department of Interior would not comment on the timing of the release of the proposal.

The proposal is required by law, but it is uncertain that even if new areas are opened that new drilling will occur in coming years.

Oil prices have fallen by more than half since the summer. U.S. supplies have swollen thanks to the six-year fracking boom and demand is weak amid economic slowdown in China and much of Europe, leading many energy companies to cut drilling plans.

The proposal will also include opening waters in the Arctic, a source at an environmental group said. The administration weighed concerns by environmental and industrial interests in drafting the proposal.

President Barack Obama on Sunday called on Congress to expand protection of Alaska's Arctic wildlife refuge, a move that was immediately attacked by the states' lawmakers including Senator Lisa Murkowski, the chairman of her chamber's energy committee.

(Reporting by Timothy Gardner; Editing by Gopakumar Warrier)

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