Barack Obama to allow oil and gas drilling off Virginia

Wed Mar 31, 2010

BBC News

US President Barack Obama is set to allow oil and gas drilling off Virginia in a bid to reduce foreign energy dependency, officials say.

He is also expected to announce that the lifting of the ban on drilling off much of the rest of the Atlantic coast will be considered.

But he is expected to reject some new drilling sites planned in Alaska.

The long-standing drilling ban covered the Atlantic coast, the eastern Gulf of Mexico and the north coast of Alaska.