US Senate will finish energy bill this month

The Senate plans to spend the next two weeks on appropriations bills before "completing the energy bill before we leave for the August break," Frist told reporters, conceding that it is an "ambitious agenda."

The bill, which would be the first major rewrite in U.S. energy policy in over a decade, aims to offer billions of dollars in tax incentives to boost drilling for oil and natural gas as well as save energy. However, the Senate faces heated debate over measures related to climate change, automobile fuel economy, financial incentives for an Alaskan natural gas pipeline and a federal electricity grid plan that has enraged Southern and Western lawmakers.

A survey of U.S. oil and gas industry executives, conducted last month by accounting firm KPMG LLP, found 42 percent doubted an energy bill would be adopted this year.

Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle separately said Frist's plan was "realistic" as long as the body begins debate "relatively soon" because the bill is so complicated.

The Senate in June briefly debated the energy bill before shelving it for other topics. Then, the Senate rejected a Democratic attempt to strip the bill of a plan to inventory offshore energy reserves around Florida and California, where drilling is banned.

The House of Representatives finished its version of an energy bill in April with billions of dollars in tax incentives for energy companies and some conservation provisions.

If both chambers approve energy bills, negotiators must then spend several weeks ironing out differences between the two versions.