The Region : Exxon Offshore Oil Plan OKd by Panel

Exxon Corp.’s plan to build three giant offshore oil- and gas-drilling platforms and onshore processing and power-generating facilities was approved Tuesday by a 4-to-1 vote of the Santa Barbara County Planning Commission. The proposed unit, expected to cost $2.5 billion to $3 billion, is expected to develop oil and gas resources on 91,000 acres in federal waters seven to nine miles off Point Conception, where up to 400 million barrels of crude oil and 600 to 700 billion standard cubic feet of natural gas are thought to lie beneath the ocean floor. Approval is still needed from the Santa Barbara County Air Pollution Control District, the State Lands Commission and the California Coastal Commission.