Offshore Oil Drilling and the Oil Rig Disaster in the Gulf

[Sigma]

Russia Still Has Georgia On Its Mind
By INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILY | Posted Thursday, May 14, 2009 4:20 PM PT

Geopolitics: After the largest military display since Soviet times, Moscow issues a policy paper warning of conflicts over energy. Given the Kremlin's track record, we'd better pay attention â€" and start drilling ourselves.

The August 2008 Russian invasion of the former Soviet republic of Georgia was rightfully seen as part of Moscow's plan to reassemble its former empire or at least exert enough control of its border to deny Western access to critical energy supplies without the Kremlin's approval.

Now Moscow has released a National Security Strategy document signed by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and listing potential challenges and government priorities through 2020. The document not-so-subtly warns that if the West does not behave itself, the invasion of Georgia may be the shape of things to come.

"The international policy in the long run will be focused on getting hold of energy sources, including in the Middle East, the Barents Sea shelf and other Arctic regions, the Caspian and Central Asia," said the strategy paper. "Amid competitive struggles for resources, attempts to use military force to solve emerging problems can't be excluded."

Russia has been there and done that. Its invasion of Georgia was in part a reaction to the expansion of NATO to the borders of Russia proper along with consideration for membership of both Georgia and Ukraine. But it was also a shot across the Western bow regarding energy.

One of the Russian targets in Georgia was a pipeline carrying oil from the Caspian Sea to the West. The Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline can carry up to 1 million barrels of oil a day. It runs from Kazakhstan through Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey and breaks Russia's stranglehold on supplying energy to Europe. Moscow now supplies 25% of Europe's energy needs.

In January 2006, Russia cut off gas supplies to Ukraine, allegedly over a pricing dispute. The pipeline disruption temporarily curtailed gas deliveries to Western Europe, sending a message that energy is also a weapon in Moscow's arsenal.

Earlier this year, Bulgaria, Greece, Macedonia, Romania, Croatia and Turkey all reported a halt in gas shipments from Russia in pipelines that run through the Ukraine. Allegedly a dispute over pricing and overdue payments, it was yet another reminder to Europe and the West concerning its dependence on Russia for energy.

The European Union has long sought alternate supply routes, including the prospective Nabucco pipeline that would carry Caspian and Central Asian gas to Europe but skirt Russia.

Moscow plans to use its energy stranglehold to help block plans for further NATO expansion and plans for missile defense sites in Poland and the Czech Republic.

It is also significant that the paper mentioned the Barents Sea and "other Arctic regions."

While we're busy saving the planet, Russia claims vast areas of the Arctic seabed as an extension of its continental shelf.

A while back a Russian submarine planted a symbolic flag on the seabed floor and is developing nuclear-powered drilling rigs to exploit its resources. The joke is that while you can't really see Russia from Alaska, you may soon be able to see its oil rigs.

The policy paper warning of wars over energy was issued just four days after Moscow held its Victory Day celebration, resumed last year after a long absence. About 9,000 goose-stepping troops paraded past Lenin's tomb. They were accompanied by more than 100 combat vehicles, 69 combat aircraft and Russia's new Topol-M ballistic missile.

At the Victory Day military parade last Saturday, Medvedev did not specifically mention Georgia, but he did remind the West that recent events had "proven the high capability of the Russian military in real action."

It would appear our abandonment of fossil fuel exploration and development may be premature as well as our gutting of spending on advanced weaponry. If the Russians are serious, we're going to need more energy and a bigger stick.

http://www.ibdeditorials.com/IBDArticles.aspx?id=327192735238592

[FayeforCure]

October 4, 2009


Offshore drilling debate spurs interest across Florida

By Jim Ash
Florida Capital Bureau Chief

From Miami Beach to Tarpon Springs to tiny Captiva Island, Florida’s coastal governments and civic boosters are jumping feet first into the turbulent debate over offshore drilling.

Nearly 20 local governments and chambers of commerce have passed resolutions opposing moves by Congress or the Republican-led Legislature to promote offshore drilling in Florida. At least one local government arm, the Brevard County Tourist Development Council, is on record in support.

Proponents say resolutions are premature before objective analysis of the proposal and further point to polling that indicates a majority in favor of drilling.

Tallahassee Mayor John Marks, recently elected president of the Florida League of Cities, said the association has yet to take a stance on the issue, and is in no hurry to do so.

“I’m not even sure when we will take a position,” he said. “It’s too early yet.”

Supporters and opponents are meeting this week with a league advisory committee to make their cases.

Eric Draper, a lobbyist for Audubon of Florida and a chief opponent of offshore drilling, said the list of local governments opposing drilling belies recent polling by the industry.

This summer, Associated Industries of Florida touted a poll it commissioned by McLaughlin & Associates that showed 75 percent of Floridians supported, at least in concept, allowing offshore drilling in Florida. Twenty percent were opposed.

Pollsters interviewed 600 likely voters Aug. 12-13. The poll had a margin of error of 4 percentage points.

However, the same poll showed that when asked if drilling should be allowed anywhere on the Florida coast, support dropped to just 16 percent.

“We know that there is a hard-core number of people who think that cheap gas is more important than anything else,” Draper said. “The rest of their support is very soft.”

Nobody, including the industry, believes that if lawmakers approve offshore drilling, that gas prices will automatically plunge. It could take a decade before anyone realizes full production. But opponents accuse the industry of taking advantage of the latest gasoline crisis.

All of which is nonsense, said Florida Petroleum Council spokesman Dave Mica.
“Everything that I hear about public opinion is that we continue to see more and more support,” he said.

Mica and other supporters point to the Florida Association of Convention and Visitor Bureaus, an umbrella group, that has already come out in favor of offshore drilling.

Associated Industries of Florida President Barney Bishop isn’t worried about non-binding local resolutions, the result, he claims, of, “knee-jerk” reactions and grandstanding politicians.

“I don’t know what kind of debate they had, if any, in any of these commissions,” he said. “These are just out-of-touch politicians.”

Bishop said more light will be shed on the debate in December when the Century Commission for a Sustainable Florida is planning a series of public forums to vet the scientific and economic claims of both sides. The group is managed by the state Department of Community Affairs and was created by the Legislature in 2005 as a neutral vehicle to debate large public-policy questions.

“It’s a place where I think there will be an objective analysis,” he said.

Ericka D’Avanzo, regional manager for the environmental group Surfrider Foundation, said its 5,000 members are pushing local governments to pass anti-drilling resolutions. Chief targets are cities and counties in the districts of lawmakers who support offshore drilling, she said.

“If we can do that, I think we can turn the tide,” she said.

http://www.tallahassee.com/article/20091004/BREAKINGNEWS/91004008/Offshore+drilling+debate+spurs+interest+across+Florida

Dave Mica's brother, Congressman John Mica used to be the ONLY Congressman from Florida ( out of all 25 Congressmen in FL), who favored off-shore drilling,...................I wonder if that had anything to do with his brother Dave Mica being Executive Director of the Florida Petroleum Council for the past 22 years.

http://floridalobbyistdirectory.com/Lobbyist.aspx?id=1115

[stjr]

Like the Arctic Wildlife Refuge debate, I am not convinced the amount of oil off of Florida would make a dent in the global market and thus our energy prices.  It's just hype to me by the oil industry trying to pick up a few billion dollars in easy money left in the cracks and crevices of our country.

If we want to save money on energy, use less of it - by conservation - or through sustainable substitutes.  That will make a much larger difference than a few immaterial oil wells that risk the irreplaceable beaches and estuaries of our state.  Ask Alaskans how long it is taking for them to recover from the effects of the Exxon Valdez, another accident that "couldn't happen".  I wonder how many of them wished they didn't make a deal with oil?

[zoo]

I don't miss seeing the platforms off SoCal's coast, at all, and don't give a crud about gas prices -- I live urban!

[mtraininjax]

Jobs, Jobs, Jobs, no one mentions this. With Florida's unemployment rate zooming past 11%, no one, no chamber has a plan on how to add more jobs to the local economies. Drilling would add new jobs and new tax revenues to the state. I've seen where it would not add maybe 50 million in state revenues, but then again, this is an estimate. What about the jobs?

[stjr]

Jobs, Jobs, Jobs, no one mentions this. With Florida's unemployment rate zooming past 11%, no one, no chamber has a plan on how to add more jobs to the local economies. Drilling would add new jobs and new tax revenues to the state. I've seen where it would not add maybe 50 million in state revenues, but then again, this is an estimate. What about the jobs?

Ask New Orleans how they are faring with jobs from offshore drilling.  They were the center of this industry for decades.  Following Katrina, the oil companies that hadn't already relocated their office and geologist operations to Houston pretty much finished doing so.

Most workers live on the rigs themselves.  The rigs are built in far away places and towed into location so don't count on construction jobs.  Helicopters and boats ferry the workers and supplies to shore so there may be a small impact there, that is, if they come to our shores instead of one of the other Gulf states. The oil will travel in pipelines or ships to the refineries mostly in Texas, so after initially building the pipelines (again, if they are even routed through Florida), not many jobs there.

Add to this that most of these oil industry workers are highly specialized and come from all over the world which means not too many new jobs for current Florida residents.

[mtraininjax]

Most workers live on the rigs themselves.  The rigs are built in far away places and towed into location so don't count on construction jobs.  Helicopters and boats ferry the workers and supplies to shore so there may be a small impact there, that is, if they come to our shores instead of one of the other Gulf states. The oil will travel in pipelines or ships to the refineries mostly in Texas, so after initially building the pipelines (again, if they are even routed through Florida), not many jobs there.

Surely the state will provide something like an incentive, to build the rigs using Florida workers, and possibly some sort of pipeline from the rigs to a refinery. There has not been a new refinery constructed since the 70s, I am thinking we are due. Jobs are there, if you want to look for them.

If building a high speed rail can create jobs, so can the oil industry offshore, along with tax revenue from the product.  All you need to do is dream it and we can do it. Training to run a rig is not rocket science, we have some smart people here, we can overcome the learning curve.

[stjr]

Surely the state will provide something like an incentive, to build the rigs using Florida workers, and possibly some sort of pipeline from the rigs to a refinery.  There has not been a new refinery constructed since the 70s, I am thinking we are due.

Hmmm...providing incentives kind of defeats the purpose, doesn't it, Mtrain? This was suppose to raise revenue, not cost taxpayers!  I thought the oil companies wanted this oil bad and it couldn't be found anywhere else as competitively as here?  What more incentive should they need other than that? 

Pipelines are very expensive.  I would expect the oil companies to desire a route as direct as possible from the source (say off our shores) to the refineries (Texas).  This would likely dictate a straight run across the Gulf to the end or intersection of an existing pipeline in place for offshore drilling off other states. 

As to a refinery in Florida, forget it.  You think offshore drilling is controversial.  Many people see refineries as equal or worse than having a nuclear power plant in their back yards.  One reason we have a near shortage of U.S. refining capacity and, given this, no one has built a new refinery in this country in decades, is because no one wants to permit new refineries.  Why don't you go ask your City Councilman about putting one at Cecil Field  and watch his/her reaction .

I don't know exactly how technically proficient you have to be to work on a rig, but it takes a special person to stay out in the middle of the ocean for weeks or months at a time and often endure very dangerous work and storms.  Are you ready to apply?

[mtraininjax]

I don't know what you do for a living, but I have a hard time believing you understand how to attract and grow business to a community. Every business person I know, understands that, for Saft to come to town the City, State and Feds had to give them something to hopefully, one day, land 800 jobs. Call it priming the pump, call it growing business on the back of the taxpayer, whatever, get over it. The days of companies throwing a dart at a map and landing there because it is the right place are gone, companies move for incentives, and without them, you can't expand jobs fast enough.

11% unemployment growing, crime growing, apathy toward each other with people being shot, crime going through the roof, people don't have enough to do, and right now there needs to be more of a push for job creation. If there are millions of gallons of crude, or nat gas, or bars of gold off our shores, and it puts THOUSANDS of people to work, I am all for it. Idle minds lead to crime, and we are seeing the tip of it. When unemployment, those out of work and those not interested in finding a job, hits 20% in Florida, you will see the police departments demanding more resources, and again our taxes go up.

Pipelines are no more expensive than the building of a road. Refineries don't have to be built here, but they are a capital project and no matter where they are built, they will demand jobs for many years, many good paying jobs. A chemical engineer can get through an undergrad degree in 4 years and do very well in these plants.

I think you undersetimate the people who don't have a job, are you prepared to tell them they are "stupid" and that is the reason you are not willing to allow them on a rig? You make it sound that its the most dangerous job on the planet, when driving a 4,000 pound vehicle on a daily basis can be more dangerous.

[stjr]

Mtrain, there are always jobs available but it doesn't mean people will take them.  There was just a wire service article on the subject last week.  Farmers are still looking for field workers, restaurants for bus boys, etc.  My point is there are jobs that are so low paying, dirty, unhealthy, long or night hours, difficult, far away, and/or dangerous, that few people will do them.  You assume anyone looking for work will be desperate enough to do any job, even if that means risking their lives, giving up certain routines, and/or being away from family and friends.  Apparently, in this country, most people aren't at that point - yet.

I never said "stupid", I said "technically" qualified.  There is a big difference.

As to motivating the oil industry, they have to go where the oil is, unlike Saft who had other options.  If we have it, that is motivation enough.

Mtrain, I don't know what you do for a living.  But, if you think you can do better working for the oil industry, no need to wait for them to come to Florida.  Fly to Lousiana or Texas and apply.  Along with all the unemployed Floridians you say want those jobs.  Based on your approach, these Floridians will go to wherever the jobs are.  If not Florida, they will go elsewhere.

A big chunk of Florida's unemployed are construction and development related workers who came here to begin with in pursuit of work.  If that work has moved, maybe they need to move again. Florida can't guarantee unlimited jobs to all who want to live here.  That is simply not sustainable.  And, don't forget, a job in Florida may have been taken from another state.  Moving jobs between states in bidding wars is a zero sum gain for the country.

Want jobs?  The best way to create new jobs is through education.  We should be investing in educational improvements and infrastructure at our schools and colleges over building wateful road projects like 9B and the Outer Beltway.  Let's hire more teachers, not lay them off, expand school hours, not shrink them, add courses, not delete them, and upgrade school facilities, not close them.  That will pay off a lot more handsomely in raising wages, reducing crime, improving quality of life, etc.  And, the payoffs will be sustainable.  Oil will come and go.  It's not the key to a sustainably prosperous future.

[BridgeTroll]

Your right stjr... drilling for oil and gas will not create jobs... it will barely even produce oil and gas...  Why are we even having this silly discussion?  Jobs?  Profit? Energy industry?  It is all just a shell game to line the pockets of the "ultra-rich" while secretly planning to pollute the air,water, and ground.

Besides... why should the USA go to all the trouble of doing this messy business when we can let poor third world nations do our dirty work for us.

[BridgeTroll]

http://ezinearticles.com/?Offshore-Oil-Rig-Jobs-A-Career-Worth-Looking-Into&id=3153500

Offshore Oil Rig Jobs - A Career Worth Looking Into

Oil rig jobs are a specific line of work that you probably know little about unless you are familiar with someone who works in this field. But if you are looking for a good future and the idea of offshore drilling peaks your interest, now is the time to get involved. There are many different positions for new projects coming open and you could have your chance to learn much more about oil rig jobs.

Types of Offshore Gas and Oil Installations

The gas and oil drilling business offers a wide variety of installation specialties because of the complex nature of the industry. Two major structures are used in offshore drilling, fixed structures and drill ships. The main difference is the fixed unit drills for oil from a permanent platform set up specifically for this task and the drill ships are designed for floating from place to place during exploration for oil.

What Type of Training is needed to Qualify for an Oil Rig Job?
A nine-week training program is usually required in order to meet the criteria that are placed upon employees working a rigging job. After training is completed, there is further hands-on training, teaming up with a regular worker. It is absolutely imperative that you know the oil rig jobs inside and out before working alone.

Types of Jobs Learned during Training

Everyone that learns oil rig jobs works with a crew and each crew has designated main duties. There are four main areas of knowledge to know about the operation of the oil rig platform and each area provides a valuable service to the team as a whole.

The Deck Crew

Roustabouts guide the crane as loads are moved, supply needed equipment and keep the pipe deck and main deck clear and clean from debris. They also cover for roughnecks when breaks and meals are needed. They are also trained to operate the crane that puts them in line, should a crane operator position come open. Rigging jobs offer advancement in every department.

The Drill Crew

Roughnecks work in a team of three on the rig floor and operate the equipment and machines. Working to keep all systems running smoothly, the driller is able to perform the operation of the drill without incident. A derrickman and pumpman further maintain the pumps, shakers and machines that are heavily relied upon.

The Mechanical Department

Large diesel generators are the only source of power when you are out in the middle of the ocean and mechanics keep the generators maintained on a regular schedule and knowing how to repair when there is a need. This type of oil work relies on skill and knowledge.

How Much Money Can I Earn?

Depending on the position you qualify for, oil rig jobs start around $54,000 per year and some positions that may come available can top $80,000 or higher. The work is hard and you can easily be away from home for a month then home for a month. 12-hour shifts are often required are not unusual but if you have an excitement for work, a team effort and traveling to foreign lands, there are hundreds of oil companies looking for people interested in oil rig jobs right now. Within ninety days you could have a thrilling job as an oil rig operator for a major oil company.

Quentin J. Brooks is a keen oil rig jobs researcher who is always keeping up with the latest in the oil industry. His invaluable tips and advice on oil work recruitment is found to be both trust worthy and helpful. For more information check out his resourceful website now.

[Dog Walker]

Offshore drilling will not bring jobs to Florida to any significant extent.  The only reason there is a push for offshore drilling has nothing to do with jobs, lower oil prices, or security of supply.  It has to do with the tax revenue that the state would collect for allowing drilling.  The politicians want the money, period.  Their ability to control how tax revenues are spent is what keeps incumbents in office and they know it well.  This would let them have more "goody" money without raising property taxes.

[JeffreyS]

Money would be the only reason I would consider letting companies drill.  More in our state less leaving our country.

[BridgeTroll]

Offshore drilling will not bring jobs to Florida to any significant extent.

Really?  Where is this shown?  Is this something you think?  Know?  Heard?  Surmised?