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HOUSTON, Jan. 15-- President Donald Trump's move for the largest expansion of offshore oil and gas drilling in U.S. continental waters in decades is met with resistance by coastal states officials and a mix of skepticism and hope by energy industry analysts. The proposal, announced earlier this month, would open nearly all U.S. coastal waters from the Atlantic to the Arctic oceans to energy development. For several decades, such waters have had federal protections due to environmental concerns. The Trump administration asserted that such renewed offshore drilling will help achieve "energy independence." But some said that's unlikely even if renewed offshore drilling transpires, given the facts that oil is less than 70 U.S. dollars per barrel and shale oil reserves are abundant. KEY TO ENERGY INDEPENDENCE? Trump's offshore drilling plan would open up 90 percent of U.S. offshore reserves to development by private companies, with 47 drilling leases proposed. Among them, 19 sales would be off the Alaska coast, 12 in the Gulf of Mexico, nine in the Atlantic and seven in the Pacific, all but one of them off California's coast. Sean Hennigan, managing director of Houston-based Hercules Offshore West Africa, which provides drilling services to oil and gas producers, saw the proposal as a positive step for energy independence, "which is a long-term game." Since the lead time for offshore drilling "is significant, there will be no immediate impact" from Trump's proposal, he said. "But we're going to need oil for multi-generations to come, and it's better to get that domestically than internationally from an energy independence standpoint." | 
