Deal may boost offshore drilling

WASHINGTON – Members of a key House panel have hammered out a deal aimed at opening up more offshore areas to oil and natural gas drilling. Such a step would represent a huge victory for offshore operators, who have long eyed areas of the Outer Continental Shelf off limits to drilling. But the bill also threatens to slap energy companies producing royalty-free in the deep waters of the Gulf of Mexico with sizable new “conservation of resources” fees.