Judge delays new drilling off California

OAKLAND, Calif., Aug. 13 (UPI) -- A federal judge has barred new oil drilling off a stretch of the California coast until a better study of environmental hazards is completed.

The Los Angeles Times said the ruling effectively delays any new drilling for years.

The federal government wants to extend leases on 36 tracts north of Los Angeles between Oxnard and San Luis Obispo in Central California.

"We know we cannot move forward until additional environmental analysis has been conducted," John Romero, a spokesman for the Interior Department's Minerals Management Service, said after Friday's hearing. "We don't know exactly what that means."

New offshore drilling is barred from most of California's coast. The 36 leases have been extended since they expired, but the areas have never been drilled.

Local and state officials and environmental groups oppose new drilling.