LOS ANGELES (Commodity Online) : Massive oil spill on the other side of the mainland prompted actor governor Arnold Schwarzenegger of US state California to withdrew his support of a plan to expand oil drilling off the state's coast.

The governor had earlier proposed expanding oil drilling off the coast of Santa Barbara County to help close the state's $20 billion budget deficit.

However the new announcement assures that no new drilling will take place off the state's coastline in the foreseeable future because Schwarzenegger would have to include the drilling proposal in his May revision of the state budget.

Speaking at a news conference, the governor said television images of the oil spill in the Gulf have changed his mind about the safety of ocean-based oil platforms.

You turn on the television and see this enormous disaster, you say to yourself, 'Why would we want to take on that kind of risk?' Schwarzenegger said.

Democrats last year blocked a similar proposal, but Schwarzenegger renewed his support earlier this year, saying it was a reliable way to increase revenue as the state grapples with an ongoing fiscal crisis.

The California coast was not part of US President Barack Obama's announcement a month ago when he said he wanted to expand oil drilling off the Atlantic coast and in eastern portions of the Gulf.

A 1969 blowout on a Union Oil Co. platform off the Santa Barbara coast fouled miles of ocean and beaches and led to a moratorium on offshore drilling.

Oil Spill California Barack obama