The eastern Gulf of Mexico would be the most likely place to see additional drilling in the near future.

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Florida, for example, has traditionally resisted oil exploration in the eastern Gulf of Mexico, for fear of another devastating spill.

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Geologists say there's plenty of gas in the eastern Gulf of Mexico, for example, but the federal government is reluctant to lease the acreage because of its proximity to Florida, which bans offshore drilling.

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Geologists say thtat there's plenty of gas in the eastern Gulf of Mexico, for example, but the U.S. government is reluctant to lease the acreage because of its proximity to Florida, which bans offshore drilling.

FORBES: The gas trap

The "New Energy Reform Act of 2008, " which is still being drafted and would expand offshore drilling in the eastern Gulf of Mexico and off the coasts of Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia.

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But this congressional moratorium on drilling off the Atlantic and Pacific coasts and in the eastern part of the Gulf of Mexico has been in place since 1982.

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The class action case is In Re: Oil Spill by the Oil Rig "Deepwater Horizon" in the Gulf of Mexico on April 20, 2010, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana, No. 10-2179.

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