SteveB/Colorado

Where's the Oil?

Volatility may be an enemy to development. Perhaps that is a reason that as of last June, when prices were at their highest, some 67 million acres of awarded oil & gas leases both onshore, mostly in the West, and offshore, were sitting idle. Yet, there was all the election year noise to "drill, baby, drill." This year, we have big energy crying that Department of Interior won't award leases in oil shale country, even though Exxon & Shell have tens of thousands of undeveloped acres on their privately owned oil shale lands. Go figure.