FOR RELEASE: December 21, 1994               CONTACT: Lee Scurry
                                                  (202) 208-3983

                     MMS EXTENDS COMMENT PERIOD FOR 
                     NEW 5-YEAR OCS LEASING PROGRAM
                                    
     The U.S. Department of the Interior's Minerals Management
Service (MMS) is extending by 30 days the initial comment period
for the new 5-Year Oil and Gas Leasing Program for 1997-2002 and
the accompanying Environmental Impact Statement (EIS), officials
announced today.

     The initial request for comments, published in the November
16 Federal Register, set a 45-day comment period to close on
January 9, 1995; the new deadline is February 1.

     "It is our intent at MMS to listen to all our customers and
to make sure they have sufficient input to the decisionmaking
process," said MMS Acting Director Cynthia Quarterman.  "MMS has
received requests from various groups for an extension of the
comment period, and we are responding.

     "Several requests have come from coastal states that are
experiencing a change in state government administration.  Other
constituents have indicated that the holiday season has made it
difficult to coordinate their comments," she said.  "It makes
good sense and good government to extend the comment period."

     Comments, due February 1, 1995, should be mailed to: 5-Year
Program Project Director, Minerals Management Service, MS-4400,
Room 1324, 381 Elden Street, Herndon, VA 22070.  Also, MMS will
accept hand deliveries at 1849 C Street, NW, Room 4013,
Washington, DC.  For more information contact Carol Hartgen,
5-Year Program Project Director, at (703) 787-1216.

     The Interior Department is required by the Outer Continental
Shelf (OCS) Lands Act to prepare and maintain an OCS natural gas
and oil leasing program that covers a 5-year period.  The current
program ends in July 1997.  

     MMS is the federal agency that manages and regulates the
nation's natural gas, oil and other mineral resources on the
Outer Continental Shelf, and collects and disburses revenues from
offshore federal mineral leases and from onshore mineral leases
on federal and Indian lands.

                                   -MMS-