The Minerals Management Service's (MMS) five-year Outer Continental Shelf leasing program proposes 21 lease sales in eight planning areas in the Gulf of Mexico, offshore Alaska and offshore Virginia. Implementation could result in 10 billion barrels of oil and 45 trillion cubic feet of gas production over 40 years.

The plan includes a portion of the Sale 181 area in the eastern Gulf as part of a Central Gulf lease sale, and one lease sale in the Eastern Gulf.

"There is no leasing proposed within 125 miles of the Florida coast or east of the military mission line in the Eastern Gulf," the MMS reports. The Alaska sales include two in the Beaufort Sea, three in the Chukchi Sea, up to two special-interest sales in Cook Inlet and one sale in the North Aleutian Basin.

The sale offshore Virginia would be held only if a presidential withdrawal is modified and a Congressional moratorium is discontinued in the area. The state of Virginia is asking that drilling not occur nearer than 50 miles from its shore.