RALEIGH, N.C. — After a liberal group released an ad alleging Republican Sen. Elizabeth Dole shares a cozy relationship with the oil industry Thursday, the state GOP and an independent conservative group unveiled their own statements slamming challenger Kay Hagan and lauding Dole.

The 30-second spot from the independent, liberal group Majority Action criticizes Dole for supporting measures which would help oil companies as Americans are suffering from high gas prices.

"Big Oil companies are making billions at our expense," the ad's narrator says. "And where has Elizabeth Dole been? In Washington taking over a quarter million in campaign cash from Big Oil and voting to give them billions more in tax breaks."

The advertisement, which cost about $115,000, is running in Raleigh-Durham, Greenville-New Bern and Wilmington markets, according to executive director Bill Buck with Majority Action.

Dole campaign spokesman Dan McLagan scoffed at the group's insinuation that the senator's position on legislation is affected by campaign contributions. He said the liberal group's advertisement is part of a "national freakout by Democrats" who realize that Americans want oil exploration and offshore drilling.

"There's a real sense of desperation in the air with Kay Hagan and her left-wing backers in Washington," McLagan said. "They've been caught without an energy policy."

The same day that Majority Action ad began airing, the conservative group Americans for Prosperity announced it had paid $150,000 for a radio spot which praises Dole's leadership on the nation's energy policy discussions. The advertisement begins running across the state Monday, said Americans for Prosperity state director Dallas Woodhouse, but is not in response to the liberal group's television ad.

The state Republican Party on Thursday also unveiled an online video questioning Hagan, the Democratic challenger, for backpedaling on a previously held anti-offshore drilling position.

Hagan on Monday first indicated support for a proposal from a 10-member, bipartisan group of senators which calls for conservation, research and alternative energy measures in addition to lifting some offshore drilling bans.

North Carolina GOP spokesman Brent Woodcox said that Hagan's endorsement of the plan flies in the face of previous statements she's made about offshore drilling and the oil industry.

"What Kay Hagan has done is just changed her mind according to a political whim," Woodcox said.

But in late June, Dole backed away from her long-held support for the federal offshore drilling moratorium, announcing she now supports lifting the freeze as long as drilling is not visible from land and safe.

Woodcox said Dole's change of heart is not troubling, like Hagan's, because the GOP senator did not "demonize" her opponent and the oil industry.

Hagan campaign spokeswoman Colleen Flanagan said the Democratic challenger is backing the bipartisan bill because it includes a number of long-term solutions to the country's energy needs.

"While the proposal the Gang of 10 put together is not perfect, it's something she could support," Flanagan said, adding that compromise is necessary to break what amounts to a Congressional gridlock on the issue.