A robocall praises U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole on offshore drilling.

The Associated Builders and Contractors' Free Enterprise Alliance is making automated calls to Norh Carolina voters noting that the Salisbury Republican voted to allow offshore drilling.

"America needs energy independence," a woman says in the recorded call. "That's why Senator Dole cosponsored the Gas Price Reduction Act, opening more offshore areas to harvest domestic energy, lift the moratorium on oil shale exploration in the Western states, and reduces our dependency on foreign sources."

Both Dole and Democratic rival Kay Hagan backed a failed bipartisan compromise bill that would allow offshore drilling and promote alternative energy. The Gas Price Reduction Act was a Republican-backed alternative that would have gone further on oil exploration.

The Washington-based group has made two other calls targeting Hagan over earmarks and the state budget. A lobbyist for construction contractors, it is concerned about Hagan's support for a bill that would make it easier to unionize.

After the jump, the script.

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A new robocall targets Kay Hagan on offshore drilling.

Freedom's Watch, a Washington-based conservative advocacy group, is making automated calls to North Carolina voters about the Democratic Senate candidate's stance on energy.

"Do you think we should return to the energy policies of the 1970s, with Americans facing skyrocketing energy costs and increasing reliance on foreign oil?" a male narrator says. "Kay Hagan apparently does. Her energy plan uses Jimmy Carter's failed policy of 30 years ago!"

The robocall also says that Hagan opposed "new domestic energy production" that would make the U.S. less reliant on foreign oil.

Hagan opposed offshore drilling this summer, but she switched positions in August, backing a Senate bill that would lift the ban as part of a broader package to promote alternative energy and conservation.

U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole previously opposed offshore drilling in North Carolina, but switched positions in June and also backed the compromise bill.

After the jump, the script.

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How much oil is off North Carolina's coast?

No one knows for sure, but the Minerals Management Service recently estimated based on exploration done in the 1970s and 1980s that between one half and 3.5 billion barrels of oil lie off the coast of Virginia, North and South Carolina and Georgia.

Not all of that oil would be available under the most likely scenarios, since the states or the federal government could limit offshore drilling within sight of the shoreline. Between one-tenth and seven-tenths of a billion barrels of oil is within 50 miles of shore.

How long would that oil last?

According to the Energy Information Administration, U.S. consumers used about 5.5 billion barrels of crude oil and petroleum products in 2007. (See "Refinery and Blender Net Inputs" on this chart. To be exact, subtract "Exports" one column over, though it doesn't make much difference.)

In other words, the oil offshore from North Carolina and its neighboring Atlantic Coast states amounts to between 26 and 231 days' worth of U.S. oil consumption.

Of course, it would mean a huge increase in U.S. drilling.

According to the same chart (see "Field Production"), U.S. production of crude oil in 2007 was 1.8 billion barrels, so the South Atlantic oil amounts to between 79 days and almost two years' worth of current domestic oil production.

It turns out that Bob Dole owns an interest in oil too.

In the ongoing who-loves-big-oil debate in the U.S. Senate campaign comes news that former Sen. Bob Dole has a million-dollar stake in a fund that trades on oil prices, reports Barb Barrett.

Politico, a Capitol Hill newspaper, reports that Bob Dole has a stake of more than $1 million in an offshore hedge fund. The fund speculates on the prices of crude oil, heating oil, natural gas and gasoline, Politico reports.

It cites the personal financial disclosure reports of his wife, Republican U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole. She’s running for re-election against Democratic state Sen. Kay Hagan.

As offshore drilling looks more and more like a possibility, politicians are trying to shape what might happen off North Carolina’s coastline.

Gov. Mike Easley told the state’s congressional delegation today that he wants North Carolina – not oil companies – to hold any leases that are put out for offshore drilling, reports Barb Barrett.

Easley's comments come in the wake of a bill in the U.S. House to open up the Outer Continental Shelf to oil drilling. That bill, approved late Tuesday, was supported by nine of the state’s 13 House members.

The federal government usually leases acreage to oil companies for several years, putting the leases out to bid and earning money both from fees and a share of oil revenues.

But Easley said North Carolina should get any leases – without paying the federal fees.

“North Carolina's intention is to maintain control over the exploration, drilling and production of this petroleum to guarantee that it benefits our people,” Easley wrote the delegation.

He added: “Otherwise, in the current legislation, private oil companies could drill and drain these last reserves off our coast long before they have exhausted the supply elsewhere.”

More after the jump.

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Kay Hagan supports the Gang of 20 legislation.

The Democratic Senate candidate originally opposed lifting a federal ban on offshore drilling in the United States, as did her Republican opponent, U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole.

Hagan switched positions in August, backing a Senate bill that would lift the ban as part of a broader package to promote alternative energy and conservation.

Spokeswoman Colleen Flanagan noted that the bill would leave the decision on drilling in North Carolina up to the state. She said Hagan would support drilling here if the governor and the legislature decide to allow it.

In late July, the Transylvania Times reported that Hagan did not support drilling here.

"She said some oil drilling is necessary, but not off the coast of North Carolina," the newspaper wrote.

But Flanagan said that the story predated Hagan's decision to endorse the Gang of 20 bill and no longer represents her views.

"If the governor and the legislature decide to allow drilling, Kay would support that," she said.

What would the Gang of 20 legislation do?

A growing bipartisan group of senators is promoting the New Energy Reform Act of 2008 as a response to high gas prices this session.

The bill has been endorsed by Democratic Senate candidate Kay Hagan and U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole, who joined the Gang of (n+1) last week.

Although it is still being refined, the bill aims to reduce U.S. dependence on gasoline and diesel over the next 10 years in favor of alternative fuels, energy efficiency and conservation.

It would also lift a federal moratorium on offshore drilling in the United States.

The bill would open additional areas in the Gulf of Mexico to leasing by oil companies and allow Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia to decide whether to permit drilling. 

In that sense, the legislation would not necessarily lead to offshore drilling off the Outer Banks, since the state legislature and governor could decide against it.

In addition, it currently calls for a 50-mile buffer, allowing drilling only between 50 and 200 miles off the coast.

An ad by the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee calls U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole's recent ad "not accurate" and attacks her links to oil companies.

U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole has joined a bipartisan group pushing energy reform.

Originally called the "Gang of 10," the group has grown to 10 Republican and 10 Democratic senators pushing the New Energy Reform Act of 2008.

The bill would open additional land in the Gulf of Mexico to offshore drilling and allow North Carolina and other states to decide whether to allow drilling. 

It would also provide tax credits for the purchase of fuel-efficient vehicles, invest $15 billion in research and development of alternative fuel vehicles and support nuclear energy.

"For many months, I have been urging my colleagues to lay down their arms and work together to achieve a bipartisan solution to address high gas prices and our nation's dangerous dependence on foreign oil," said Dole in a statement.

In early August, Dole said she would support the bill, but she did not join the "gang" of senators promoting it.

Her Democratic opponent, state Sen. Kay Hagan, also supports the legislation. 

U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole's latest TV ad attacks Democratic rival Kay Hagan for her ownership of oil and gas wells and her stance on offshore drilling.

What it says: The ad shows images of Hagan, oil wells and gas pumps. Narrator: "Fibber Kay Hagan claims she's against Big Oil, but Kay Hagan is Big Oil. Each time you buy gas, her cash register goes 'ka-ching!' Kay and her husband own multiple oil and gas wells in Kansas, Oklahoma, Indiana, West Virginia, Ohio. But Kay is against offshore drilling. Must not own any of those." Dole: "I'm Elizabeth Dole and I approve this message."

The background: According to a U.S. Senate financial disclosure form, Hagan and her husband, Chip, have stakes in five companies: Ace Midwest Partners, Psigen Sullivan Partners, Jasmine Oil Wells, Chrisjo Energy Inc. and Ergon Oil Co.

The companies operate oil and gas wells in Kansas, Oklahoma, Indiana, West Virginia and Ohio.

Though the exact amount was not disclosed, each of the investments was listed as being worth between $15,000 and $50,000. That puts the couple's overall stake somewhere between $90,000 and $300,000.

"These are Chip's," said Hagan spokeswoman Colleen Flanagan. "He has investments in domestic oil wells, which are local businesses contributing to the economy."

Both Dole and Hagan previously supported a federal moratorium on oil exploration off the North Carolina coast.

In June, Dole reversed herself, citing high gas prices. At the time, Hagan criticized her, saying the U.S. "cannot drill ourselves enough oil to solve this problem."

But a month later, Hagan also reversed herself, saying she supports a bipartisan proposal by a group of U.S. senators that would leave the decision on offshore drilling up to North Carolina and other states, promote alternative energy and encourage conservation.

Dole has said she would also support that proposal.

Is it accurate? No. Hagan's investments in oil and gas wells are substantial, but they hardly qualify her for membership in OPEC. Like Dole, she no longer supports a federal ban on offshore drilling in North Carolina and would leave the decision up to the state.

— Ryan Teague Beckwith