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Next for the Gulf: More Drilling
U.S. Issues First Shallow-Water Drilling Permit
WASHINGTON - The U.S. Interior Department issued its first shallow-water drilling permit since offshore exploration companies were required to meet two sets of new safety regulations in response to the BP oil spill, a department official said on Monday.
Greenpeace activists paint over a banner with the British Petroleum (BP) logo in a protest against the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico at St. Stephen's square in Vienna July 7, 2010. (REUTERS/Lisi Niesner) Apache Corp, which is seeking to purchase billions of dollars in BP assets, was approved to drill in Gulf of Mexico waters that are less than 500 feet deep.
Companies have not been allowed to get new shallow water drilling permits until they abide by new government safety requirements. Apache was the first to meet them all, the department said.
The U.S. Interior Department issued its new offshore drilling moratorium for deepwater drilling last week that will last until November 30.
The moratorium is being challenged by the industry in the courts. The ban and safety requirements for shallow-water drilling are also being criticized for costing jobs and creating more economic hardship for Louisiana.
In a notice to offshore companies issued on June 8, the department said that, before beginning any new drilling, companies must certify that their blowout preventers work, be ready to conduct at least two tests of cement barriers in underwater wells and follow new casing installation procedures on wells.
In a second notice, issued on June 18, the department said companies seeking offshore drilling permits would have to provide information on how much oil or natural gas might leak from a blowout and how quickly the companies could act to control any spills.
This included estimating the time it would take to contract for a new rig, move it on site and drill a relief well to plug the blowout well.
Many Gulf Coast officials and lawmakers have urged the Interior Department to move faster on approving shallow-water drilling permits, so the region can salvage its high-paying oil jobs to help offset some of the losses in its fishing and tourism industries caused by the oil spill.
(Reporting by Tom Doggett; Editing by Walter Bagley)
26 Comments so far
Show Allwell, they wouldn't have to drill very far would they?.........
I can see what happens now with shallow water drilling; our shores will really become huge oil slicks, with oil wells all over them! Cute!
What the hell is going on??!!?
good question.................shut up!!!
Unfortunately, a complete ban on all offshore drilling is not realistic, to say the least. You will all need to stop driving cars first. I pretty much have, what about everyone else?
well, i work nights, so there is no public transport (apart from taxis, and then not always in the early hours of the morning) so have to use a car. other than that, i use a car for shopping to the local town about 5 kms away. (and the odd foray into the bigger retail park about 30 kms away) in 10 days i have spent 30 euros on petrol in a small japanese car. how does that compare with the u.s.?
public transport to the town would cost me 3 euros for a return ticket with a bus timing of one bus per hour from 8am till 10 pm. (less frequent in winter)
be very interested to know the difference/similarities and how you have 'pretty much' stopped driving a car.
i used to walk to the nearer village, but the risks of being killed by crazy drivers deterred me..................
I live in a older eastern US city, which is probably more "European" in it's layout than most US cities, and have reasonably good access to public transportation ($2.75 per ride plus one transfer or return) and a short walk to basc shopping and a few restaurants. My job, formerly downtown, moved to an outlying location 9 km away, with just one bus a day in and out (and I often work late), so I use a battery-electric motor scooter for most days except in winter.
The public transportation may be facing deep service cuts soon, especially if Republicans take over the state government, as is likely, in the next election.
The small 1994 4 cyl pickup truck I own is used mostly for just recreational outings - mostly getting to hang-gliding sites or hiking trips in west virginia 70 to 250 km away. If the weather doesn't cooperate, I may go a couple months between fillings of the 45 liter tank.
I assume that 30 euros buys about 20-25 liters (5-6 gallons). That is far less than an average USAn in a suburban area many whom go through that much every day. Considering that you live in a rural or semi-rural area, the distances you drive are very small compared to the US. You are also probably driving a car that gets much better fuel economy than anything that can bought in the US. The smallest cars in the US have 1.6 liter engines, the average being probably 3.5 liter.
Your cynicism of late is getting rather old, and quite annoying. Maybe you need to remove that "Life is good" line from your posts.
But I guess your remarks illustrate that, more than anything, the price of gasoline needs to be much higher, as it is in the the old country of the "Europeans".
Cynicism is indeed "old" all the way back to the Ancient Greeks who had devastated their environment by deforestation. But then they too, fortunately, had their critics, the cynics, who understood the value of living life in accord with nature just as the aborigines of the Americas do.
Asking people to stop driving cars isn't realistic either. There's not enough adequate public transportation, for one thing, and, for another thing, although I live in a city and walk, take the MBTA or bicycle to get somewhere around town during the day, there are times when I find that a car is necessary.
A) When I have to swap my almost-empty acetylene tank for my silversmithing work for a full one. I can't very well lug it on public transportation, in any case, and besides, no buses or anything go directly to the place where I swap the tank.
B) When I go somewhere and know that I'll be coming back really late at night.
C) When I go out of the city for whatever reason, and for traveling long distances.
D) If I have to do a really big grocery shopping.
Since I've been the proud owner of a fuel-efficient car (a Honda Civic Hybrid) for the past seven years and I don't drive long distances that often, I don't feel that I'm wasting gas. In fact, I'm saving on gas considerably, since I only need to gas up once or twice a month, because my hybrid car, which gives me close to 40 miles to the gallon, runs on both gasoline and electric.
I'm sure there are individual sutuation where a car is needed for a livlihood or hauling of supplies, but most poeple are not in this situation.
Also, there will only be adequate public transit WHEN people stop driving.
If they chose wisely wher they live, and to the extent they or their employers can, locate near public transportation, car use can be deeply cut. This will only happen if the price of gasoline goes up. 40 mpg would probably be only average fuel economy in Europe.
My scooter can carry 4-5 bags of groceries. But smehow, I've always managed to find places to live within a short walk of grocery shopping.
Except for maybe an antique hobbyist, no one should be "proud" to own a car. Aside from rural areas, their necessity is entirely one that was deliberately manufactured by a collusion of economic interests - Detroit, oil, and real-estate development.
I find it interesting. Those that can afford, for instance, an Hybrid, really don't have to worry about gas anyway. Those of us on a not very well fixed pension would love to buy one, but the cost is half as much as a house.
My wife and I live on an island, connected to the mainland by a causeway. To go to the nearest town is almost a twenty mile round trip. To go to the nearest city is about a fifty mile round trip. We drive 1994 vehicles. They are expensive to maintain, not too good on mileage, but our alternative is to go on foot. Not too practical for a couple in their 70's.
One of the things that would make "green" work would be to promote green technology in such a way that We the little People could afford to avail ourselves of it. However, there's BIG BUCKS out there to be had, so don't hold your breath. (But don't penalize the elderly and the poor.)
Yes, stopping offshore drilling is realistic, if there is the Political and Moral will, of which this country apparently has neither.
I could not believe all the bikes and trains going everywhere in Central Europe this summer. I agree that we shift workers (I'm a nurse) are usually stuck with the car to get to work, because this country is so tied to Big Oil, and the lack of freguent public transportation is shameful.
But, Americans are so afraid of any sacrifice and real change
and that is what must come in order for life to survive. Personally, I think our species needs to go, in order to save what is left of Nature. But, we'll probably take all other living beings with us, and that's the tragedy.
Most likely we'll continue on our destructive path until there is little of any Nature left. Until the oceans are dead. Until we cannot breathe the air. Until we breed ourselves into every square inch of this poor planet. What a shame.
Demand for oil is up so drilling is inevitable.
Yes, it will be drill baby drill, because of PEAK OIL. We are so depserate. Actually, it's mostly those with power and money at the top who are desperate. I, for one, would love to live without the pressure to jump in my car and go to work. I live in a very rural area, no bus service to speak of and my job requires a car. I find work for people with disabilities. For instance, this week, I picked up an individual with CP who uses wheel chair and took him to an interview at a grocery chaing store. He got the job. He can stand for some lenghts of time, like at a register. They are hiring him for customer service.
There are no jobs near me that would pay my mortgage and bills and food etc. Those who live in rural areas need cars FOR NOW, BUT, I would love for things to change so that I could stay home, have a cottage industry between, selling from my garden, maybe sewing clothes, or embroidery and doing astrological charts for people. There,s a few other things I and my two girls could do to make a living, such as baking. We maby could fit a couple of goats for mild and cheese, on our one and a half acres. Bartering would work for making a living.
I'm just waiting for the hammer to fall in relation to the supply of oil and demand. Not so much that demand will rise so tremendously, but that supply is going down about 3% a year- to 9%. This is just based on a natural decline, but then you have to take into considertion things like the moratorium in the gulf now, or, a geo political event like a war with Iran, in which the straights of Hormuz would be shut by the Iranians and their oil to the world markets would stop.
Some on this post would argue that peak oil is a marketing ploy by big oil. I just have to ask anyone who wants to go to Counter Currents.org and clik peak oil. Read for yourself.
One responder here made a statement about how we are "awash with oil". Well, if we are so desperate to kill ourselves to get it and kill the planet too, I hope it's a good bath. Sick. How can one not understand the total lack of logic in that statement. We are also killing people in other lands for oil, because, THIS IS PEAK OIL. This means that it's not something we get for nothing. We pay dearly and so do many others, the planet etc. Please read.
We should drop everything to do without making electricity out of fossil fuels, including uranium. No, drilling, no mining, no fracking. Why don't we. Humans are lazy. Three teaspoons of oil are equivalent to 8 hrs of human labor. I rest my case.
Peak Oil is a hoax. Where are those gas prices now down from 2008?
There was an economic recession, and contraction of demand. Remember?
"Peak oil" does not mean that there will be this sudden deep shortage of supply. Like AGW, it is going to take a few years to become serious.
What's AGW? The oil companies are responsible for manipulating the prices. If peak oil exists, wouldn't the cost of gas be 10/gallon by now?
The Great Recession caused demand for oil and gasoline to slump, which temporarily increased supplies and caused prices to fall. But once worldwide demand picks up again to a high enough level, supplies will once more become strained and we will likely see skyrocketing prices.
Peak oil is a geological fact, not a hoax. There are differing opinions as to when it will (or did) arrive, but even the optimists don't place its arrival later than during our lifetimes. And it won't arrive in a linear fashion; there will be fluctuations in supply, demand, and price, just as we've seen during the last few years. But the general, long-term trend will be toward depletion of oil stocks, with all the serious economic consequences that that will entail.
I must add that I didn't take him because of just the ride... But because I am his advocate and as he said I am his muscle, because, he has had interviews before,but didn't get hired. This time it worked.
You know the horror films where you, the audience, know the monster is hiding just around the corner and you have to watch some clueless schmuck wander right into the claws of disaster?
Well, none of us has a legitimate right to be clueless. And the people running the show, the oil corporations and our elcted reps in government, aren't clueless, they're eliberately CARELESS. Narcissistic. And irresponsble.
But the schmucks who will be trapped in the terror of environmental disaster aren't the people running the show, it's the most innocent who will pay the price.
And, like the schmuck in the horror film, it's very hard to watch.
What caught my eye in this article is that ...the oil rigs have to be ready to build relief wells should something go wrong....why aren't relief wells part of the deal. They should not drill one drop of oil until they have built a relief well. It is just stupid, we have been waiting three months for these guys to build a relief well, if it was already built we would not be waiting. Why would our STUPID goverment let the stupidity continue ?
Listening to Americans complain about the BP oilspill is like listening to junkies complain about their pusher when they get AIDS.
Not just the US, most of the world is oil dependent to some degree or other. Carelessness is another matter. The need for gasoline cannot be eliminated overnight. That said we do not need to drive huge SUVs to go a quarter mile. I'd love to see cars like the Tata be offered for sale here. They supposedly get 50 miles to the gallon, and are a lot cheaper than vehicles that are presently offered. Battery powered cars would do it either, at twice the cost of a standard vehicle.