“The time for action is now,” Mr. Bush said as he announced in the White House Rose Garden that he was lifting an executive order, which was first issued by his father in 1990 and was renewed by Bill Clinton.

By itself, the move will have little impact, because Congress enacted a moratorium in 1982 that remains in place. But the step underscores the rising political pressure to address high oil and gasoline prices in the middle of an election year.

“Failure to act is unacceptable,” the president said, asserting that obstructionists in the Democratic-controlled Congress have been blocking progress on energy exploration and that “now, Americans are paying at the pump.”

Mr. Bush said some experts believe that drilling on the Outer Continental Shelf could yield a decade’s worth of oil for the United States, and that exploiting it could be done unobtrusively, without damaging coral reefs or creating spills. He said Congress was “the only thing standing between the American people and these vast oil resources.”

Congressional Republicans, who believe they have been making political headway on the drilling issue, lauded the president’s action, but the immediate reaction from the Democratic leadership was dismissive.

They accused the White House of exploiting the issue for political purposes and said the administration could take steps to accelerate exploration of tracts already available to oil companies if it was serious about boosting domestic production.

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