Middle Atlantic Coast
A number of oil companies bought federal leases offshore North Carolina, but in 1990 the US Secretary of Commerce denied Mobil Oil permission to drill after Congress passed the North Carolina Outer Banks Protection Act, prohibiting leasing and drilling on federal seabed offshore from North Carolina. Mobil and Marathon Oil sued the federal government to recover money paid for the leases. The US Supreme Court ruled for the oil companies in June 2000, and ordered the federal government to repay $158 million. The government paid, and the companies relinquished the leases.
Read more about this topic: Offshore Drilling On The US Atlantic Coast
Famous quotes containing the words middle, atlantic and/or coast:
“You can always tell a Midwestern couple in Europe because they will be standing in the middle of a busy intersection looking at a wind-blown map and arguing over which way is west. European cities, with their wandering streets and undisciplined alleys, drive Midwesterners practically insane.”
—Bill Bryson (b. 1951)
“I thought that when they said Atlantic Charter, that meant me and everybody in Africa and Asia and everywhere. But it seems like the Atlantic is an ocean that does not touch anywhere but North America and Europe.”
—Zora Neale Hurston (1891–1960)
“On the Coast of Coromandel
Where the early pumpkins blow,
In the middle of the woods
Lived the Yonghy-Bonghy-Bo.
Two old chairs, and half a candle,—
One old jug without a handle,—
These were all his worldly goods:
In the middle of the woods,”
—Edward Lear (1812–1888)