WASHINGTON, DC, Feb. 24 — US House Natural Resources Committee leaders promised to raise questions about what they consider a de facto offshore drilling moratorium with officials at the US Department of the Interior at hearings in the next 2 weeks. The committee also will hear directly from affected Gulf Coast states, communities, and local businesses on Mar. 16 and conduct a field hearing and site visit in Louisiana during the April district work period, Chairman Doc Hastings (R-Wash.) and Energy and Mineral Resources Subcommittee Chairman Doug Lamborn (R-Colo.) said.

“We’ve heard directly from you, and other members of Congress from the gulf region who are concerned over the Obama administration’s refusal to issue new shallow and deepwater drilling permits in a timely, efficient manner,” they said in a Feb. 23 letter to six Republicans on the committee.

Read more – House panel pledges hard look at offshore drilling delays