US Interior Department announces plan for expanded offshore drilling

"Instead, it invites stakeholders to provide insight and recommendations for leasing opportunities, raise concerns and identify other existing uses that may be affected by offshore leasing," according to the release.

It pointed out that Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management had recently gained jurisdiction over a new planning area in the High Arctic and that the boundaries of other outer continental shelf planning areas were also being revised – suggesting that new acreage may now be available to drillers.