U.S. Offshore Oil Ban to Expire 12 comments
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According to Rep. David Obey, the U.S. House of Representatives will allow the 27 year old moratorium prohibiting the exploration and production of oil and natural gas reserves in the area known as the OCS (Outer Continental Shelf) to expire on September 30. A spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid concurred, saying the Congress could not afford to risk shutting down the federal government over this controversial issue at this time.
This is a victory for the 80% of Americans who pollsters report favoring the expansion of U.S. offshore oil and gas exploration, which is now limited to the waters off the states bordering the Gulf of Mexico. In theory, at least, this will allow exploration anywhere in federal waters beyond the three mile limit controlled by the states, except for an area off Florida dedicated to naval training exercises.
The U.S. Department of the Interior estimates there are some 18 billion barrels of recoverable oil in the OCS, about half of which may lie off California. Exactly how much oil and gas the area could contain is unknown, however, as oil companies have been prohibited from even performing seismic studies there since 1981.
What the actual prospects are for the resumption of energy exploration and production in the OCS remains unknown. These areas must be tested for their potential and competitively leased by the Minerals Management Service before such activities could commence. There is also the possibility that the next Congress or President could reinstitute another moratorium or otherwise limit exploration, although such measures would likely be unpopular with the American public.
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This article has 12 comments:
> jack
Yes, and it's very possible BILLIONS of barrels of oil may lie just offshore there. We don't know yet, of course, because modern oil exploration and extraction technologies have been prohibited there, but it's just possible we may now find out.
Even if we can't produce it at this time for one reason or another, it would be nice to know it's there in case of a war or some other type of long term supply disruption. It would be fitting if this area turned out to be the next Brazil, wouldn't it?
As I wrote in the post, federal waters commence THREE miles offshore, which is now, in theory, open to exploration and production, except for an isolated area off Florida.
Whether or not we ever see this come to pass is another question, however. The next president could simply reinstitute the moratorium via executive order. The states will request a share of the royalties, as is the case in the Gulf of Mexico presently. And the Congress will almost certainly attempt to adopt legislation restricting exploration.
But that's not what you see in the headlines in the news media. They are making it look like it like their Liberal friends on Capitol Hill changed their minds and came to our rescue. I wonder why?
you think those guys would try to trick us or decieve us? shocking. for the sake of clinging to office? do nothing sounds par for the course.
i was reading an article awhile back by an environmentalist that was monitering the offshore california waters. he implied we needed to drill because of seepage.
isn't china setting up to drill off the florida coast under cover of cuba? if that is true do you think the commies will give a flip about our environmental concerns?
glad to see you contributing articles my friend.
You're right, buddy. You don't hear much about the seepage issue, because the Greens and their cohorts in the press prefer to focus on the infrequent manmade spills instead.
Actually, NATURAL seepage (a real problem near the CA coast due to their drilling prohibitions) accounts for at least 3/4 of oil "spills," and boating and waterborne transportation most of the rest.
The reason you never hear about oil spills from drilling accidents (which the Greens and the news media would salivate about reporting to us) is they virtually NEVER happen.
I know geologists and researchers find natural seeps in the Gulf all the time, usually from natural gas bubbling up to the surface. And those types of occurrences are blamed by many for the loss of ships in the area known as the Burmuda triangle.
Think there's ALOT of oil and gas down there off our coasts?
pbr seems to be proving there is more underwater than we hoped.
china must think so, if the rumors about florida are true. last weekend i was listening to the movements of russian warships. funny to get to the off-east coast and gulf reservoirs it looked like we had to get past them. that wasn't stated but i kind of wondered if their manouvers were a subtle statement about oil.
the watermelons just say don't confuse me with the facts. algore said so.