
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, February 22, 1991                   TAG: 9102220198
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-2   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: From the Los Angeles Times/ and The Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Medium

U.S. TO EXPAND SELLING OF OCEAN OIL, GAS LEASES

Promising unprecedented attention to environmental impact, the Department of the Interior announced plans Thursday to sell as many as 23 oil and gas leases in the outer continental shelf - a cornerstone of the Bush administration's new national energy strategy.

The five-year plan calls for lease sales in the most promising outer tracts off the East Coast, the Gulf of Mexico, the shores of Alaska and possibly Santa Barbara and Ventura counties in California, while leaving other areas off-limits for now.

The department introduced the plan only 24 hours after the White House put forward a comprehensive energy policy focused primarily on increased domestic production and avoiding the mandatory conservation measures favored by environmentalists and others.

Key senators declared Thursday that there is no chance for enactment of the policy unless its conservation elements are stiffened, and the administration indicated it is prepared to bend on some issues, including auto-fuel efficiency requirements.

"I am not against some kind of fuel-efficiency increase," Energy Secretary James Watkins told the Senate Energy Commmittee. At the same time, Watkins said more study is needed to determine what increases are technically feasible without significantly reducing car size.

As Watkins appeared to explain the energy blueprint, 10 of 14 senators at the hearing, including Chairman Bennett Johnston, D-La., chided the administration for placing too much emphasis on energy production and not enough on conservation.

Sen. Wendell Ford, D-Ky., lauded Bush's record on foreign policy, but said he "is unwilling to take a tough stand" on energy matters.

Meanwhile, auto industry representatives said at a separate hearing that they anticipated some increase in fuel efficiency in the coming years, but considered Senate legislation calling for cars to meet an average 40 miles per gallon by the year 2000 as "unrealistic" without making cars dramatically smaller and less safe.

Although Department of the Interior officials provided no estimate of the potential proceeds from the sale of oil and gas leases, the revenue generated by them and the royalties from future oil and gas production would be certain to mount into the tens of billions of dollars.

The department blueprint for outer-shelf lease sales between 1992 and 1997 will be subject to two months of comment before it is revised and submitted to the affected states. Congress will give the revised plan a final look before it takes effect in about May 1992.

by CNB