US offshore areas have so far been not allowed for oil and gas drilling by the US government due to various reasons. One of the primary reason was the need to save the available local resources for use at a future date, apart from the need to avoid environmental damages.
Now the US government is likely to allow oil and gas drilling along Atlantic Coastline , Eastern Gulf of Mexico and the Alaska North Coastal region. The move could result in multiple benefits for the US economy over the longer term. First and foremost it would generate lot of employment in the oil and gas sector as it is one of the most manpower intensive industry.
Also it would lead to major development of local and regional areas as people would invest more in the region. Then it would also save billions of dollars of money for the Americans as oil and gas imports would be cut down drastically.
This move could also help the US to bargain for lower rates on the rest of the oil and gas imports from other countries. So there can be more gain for the US in the long term due to this single strategic decision by Obama administration. Being a resource based industry the demand scenario also would be stable.