Senate Energy and Natural Resources Chairman Jeff Bingaman plans to move quickly on two oil and gas energy bills he introduced last night.

The New Mexico Democrat said he plans to hold a hearing next week on the two measures, an offshore drilling safety bill and a separate measure to phase out the Interior Department's royalty relief program and boost support for an Alaska natural gas pipeline.

Then he is planning to mark up the bills before the Senate adjourns for the Memorial Day recess.

"I hope to be able to move toward committee consideration of both of these bills this month," Bingaman said on the Senate floor this afternoon. "Both of these bills address issues of great national importance. We will shortly be scheduling necessary hearings and preparing these bills for committee consideration -- if at all possible, before the Memorial Day recess."

The offshore drilling safety measure, S. 917, is virtually identical to the measure the committee unanimously reported out last summer in the wake of the BP PLC oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

The bill would codify organizational changes at Interior, increase safety requirements for drilling wells, establish new research programs, launch an independent advisory board for the department, create a fee for inspections, increase penalties on bad offshore operators and lengthen the time for department reviews before deciding on exploration plans.

It also calls for a study on the economic effects of the Obama administration's deepwater drilling moratoria imposed in the wake of last year's Gulf disaster.

The other measure, S. 916, broaches a number of oil and gas drilling topics, such as calling for a detailed inventory of the petroleum resources under the Atlantic Ocean, eastern Gulf of Mexico and Arctic waters and the establishment of a new permitting office to handle drilling applications off the coast of Alaska.

The bill also would phase out Interior's royalty-waiver program that lets some oil companies to reduce or eliminate their royalty payments on federal drilling leases until they have recouped their investments and would boost support for a long-delayed pipeline to carry Alaskan natural gas to the lower 48 states.

Bingaman said both measures address important energy policy issues that deserve Senate consideration, but he acknowledged the possibility for controversy on S. 916.

"There is no disagreement in the Senate about the need to have robust and responsible domestic production of oil and gas," he said. "At the same time, there is probably considerable disagreement about how best to address that issue. We need to begin work on that. However, ensuring the safety and viability of our operations on the outer continental shelf is a separate matter that deserves attention on its own."

Bingaman has already suffered at least one setback in his quest to move the legislation through the committee.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), the panel's ranking member who last year co-sponsored the offshore drilling safety language, has refused to sign onto this year's measure.

Her spokesman said the two lawmakers worked together on the legislation but were unable to come to a final agreement. And Murkowski told reporters this afternoon that she and Bingaman had not halted discussions on the matter.

Bingaman may also face resistance from some Democrats on the panel over the royalty relief language. Louisiana Democrat Mary Landrieu said this afternoon that she would prefer to see some royalty payments go to coastal states rather than federal coffers.

"I have supported different versions of royalty reform for some time, because I think that not only coastal states should see a portion of the royalties, but there might be a way to structure royalties so that it is even better for the taxpayer and for the companies, but I don't really think anything is going to pass without the revenue-sharing provision," Landrieu told reporters in the Capitol.

Reporters Jean Chemnick and Elana Schor contributed.