WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — US President Donald Trump intends to greatly expand offshore drilling areas in the Arctic, Atlantic and Pacific in an executive order to be issued on Friday, according to US media reports.
The order will enable companies to drill for oil and natural gas in areas off the US coast restricted by former President Barack Obama, the Hill reported on Thursday.
The order will enable the US Interior Department to review the current schedule for offshore drilling and consider whether to undo Obama’s indefinite drilling bans, according to the newspaper.
18 January 2017, 00:40 GMT
On Tuesday, US Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke said that nothing is off the table in the review of drilling in the Pacific, the report said.
The issue of extending offshore drilling has long been controversial in the United States due to environmental concerns.
In December 2016, Obama took action to ban oil and gas drilling off the northern shores of Alaska in both the Chukchi and Beaufort seas, as well as along the US East Coast.
