US senators from four southern Mid-Atlantic coastal states asked Energy and Natural Resources Committee leaders to consider comparable federal Outer Continental Shelf revenue sharing for oil and gas activity off their shores to what four US Gulf Coast states now receive. The US Department of the Interior included a Mid-Atlantic lease sale in its draft proposed 2017-22 OCS management program, the senators said in their Apr. 7 letter to committee Chair Lisa Murkowski (R-Alas.) and ranking minority member Maria E. Cantwell (D-Wash.). “We strongly believe that offshore energy and revenue sharing go hand-in-hand, and that any legislation considered by the committee should reflect that view,” the two Democrats and six Republicans said. They said energy exploration and development can diversify their states’ economies and create jobs while reducing US reliance on foreign suppliers. The 2006 Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act authorized federal OCS oil and gas revenue shares […]