Offshore Oil Drilling and the Oil Rig Disaster in the Gulf

[BridgeTroll]

So Vic and Faye seem to agree that keeping energy prices artificially high and supplies artificially low to encourage growth of alternatives is good policy?  Wow... 

[jaxnative]

Wow is right!  How can you look at an issue as important as affordable energy like it exists in a vacuum?  Dramatic increases in energy costs, which are inevitable with the short-sighted policies now being proposed, will have ripple effects across the economic and social spectrum.  Efficient and viable alternative energy sources must be pursued but not to the detriment of our culture, society, and standard of living.

[Doctor_K]

Efficient and viable alternative energy sources must be pursued but not to the detriment of our culture, society, and standard of living.

Oh yes it must be!  For the good of the planet!  The hell with us!

[lindab]

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/southflorida/story/1019411.html

Posted on Monday, 04.27.09

THE LEGISLATURE
Oil companies push Florida legislature for offshore drilling
Late in the legislative session, a group of mostly anonymous oil and gas companies have hired at least 20 lobbyists to push bills that would allow offshore drilling in Florida.
BY LUCY MORGAN AND MARY ELLEN KLAS
Herald/Times Tallahassee Bureau

TALLAHASSEE -- Dangling the promise of millions for the state's dwindling budget, a group of mostly unidentified oil and gas companies are bankrolling a last-minute fight to bring offshore drilling to Florida's coastline.

Florida Energy Associates, a corporation formed in December by Daytona Beach lawyer Doug Daniels, has hired at least 20 of the state's most prominent lobbyists to push bills through the legislature in the final week of session. Most of the lobbyists were hired in the last 10 days but the proposal has been planned for months.

The measure, slated for votes in the House and Senate this week, would give the governor and Cabinet authority to approve oil and gas exploration 3 to 10 miles off the Florida coast.

RUSHED

The sudden appearance of the issue near the end of a troubled legislative session has sparked outrage from environmental groups and Democrats in both houses who question why it surfaced with little time for discussion and debate.

Gov. Charlie Crist initially said he was willing to look at the measure but has since questioned the way lawmakers have rushed the bill through.

''Whenever you do something like that, you want to make sure that it's well thought out, that it's done in a very deliberate manner and that people have an opportunity to review it in a reasonable way,'' Crist said Friday.

[jaxnative]

Oh yes it must be!  For the good of the planet!  The hell with us!

[BridgeTroll]

The sudden appearance of the issue near the end of a troubled legislative session has sparked outrage from environmental groups and Democrats in both houses who question why it surfaced with little time for discussion and debate.

I happen to agree with this statement.  Not because I am against the drilling but because it is now a "rush" to get it done.  I think Florida should explore its options especially if there are potentially billions of dollars available to the state.  Think of all the things that could be negotiated if we negotiated to sell drilling rights.

[FayeforCure]

So Vic and Faye seem to agree that keeping energy prices artificially high and supplies artificially low to encourage growth of alternatives is good policy?  Wow... 

Sorry Bridge Troll, if you don't yet understand that oil prices were artificially high in 2008 due to rampant (unregulated)speculation until the Enron Loophole was closed on June 18, 2008, then you have a lot of catching up to do.

The Commodity Futures Modernization Act of 2000 had a loophole that was called the “Enron loophole”. From an article on Wikipedia titled The Enron Loophole:

“The Commodity Futures Modernization Act of 2000 has received criticism for the so-called "Enron loophole," 7 U.S.C. §2(h)(3) and (g), which exempts most over-the-counter energy trades and trading on electronic energy commodity markets. The "loophole" was drafted by lobbyists for Enron working with senator Phil Gramm[3] seeking a deregulated atmosphere for their new experiment, "Enron On-line."[4]” Several Democratic legislators introduced legislation to close the loophole from 2000-2006[5][6] but were unsuccessful. In September 2007, Senator Carl Levin (D-MI) introduced Senate Bill S.2058 specifically to close the "Enron Loophole" [7] This bill was later attached to H.R. 6124, the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008, aka "The 2008 Farm Bill". President Bush vetoed the bill, but was overridden by both the House and Senate, and on June 18, 2008 the bill was enacted into law.[8]. One specific reason behind its introduction was to address the record high oil prices of the 2000s energy crisis.”

Oil spiked at an all time record high in July 2008 before the start of its decline in price. It is easy to see how House Resolution 6124 which closed the Enron loophole allowed gas prices to come down to normal levels.

John Mica voted NO on House Resolution 6124, so he was against the closing of this loophole ( his brother is President of the Florida Petroleum Council). George W. Bush vetoed this resolution. However, the House, and Senate had enough votes to override the veto.

Seems to me that many Republicans want oil speculation ( as in the Enron loophole) to keep oil prices artificially high.

[lindab]

The Florida  House of Representatives has just passed a bill by a vote of 70 to 43 to open up state waters to oil drilling.

Now the legislation is headed to the Florida Senate.
If you oppose this  bill you need to speak up somewhere other than this forum.

[FayeforCure]

The Florida  House of Representatives has just passed a bill by a vote of 70 to 43 to open up state waters to oil drilling.

Now the legislation is headed to the Florida Senate.
If you oppose this  bill you need to speak up somewhere other than this forum.

Very sad, conservatives who don't value conservation of our beautiful shoreline. I will leave a message for State Senator Stephen Wise urging him to oppose offshore drilling that will dirty our beaches, and reduce state tourism revenues.
Senator Stephen Wise is termed out in 2012 I believe, and I hope we'll get someone in there who does value our natural resources and their revenue stream, rather than grasping for the fake "drill here, drill now" mantra.

There are already 68 million acres available that oil companies have leases on, but have not drilled on. Use that first before making any more lands available, offshore or anywhere.

[lindab]

Thank you, Faye. I truly love our beaches. Our family from out of town comes several times during the year to spend time visiting us and the beach. Even in the winter I love to go there and watch the birds which have migrated south.
When I was a child, I remember getting oil tar on our feet from the oil spills that occurred off the coast during the war and as a result of tanker spills. Sometimes you couldn't even swim because of the oil slicks.

[BridgeTroll]

Sorry Bridge Troll, if you don't yet understand that oil prices were artificially high in 2008 due to rampant (unregulated)speculation until the Enron Loophole was closed on June 18, 2008, then you have a lot of catching up to do.

Apples and Oranges... totally unrelated.  But I assume then the answer to my question about keeping supplies artificially low and prices artificially high to spur the growth in alternatives is an unabashed affirmative.  Seems to me only the less fortunate suffer under these types of energy policies.

[Dog Walker]

Why does anyone think that drilling off Florida would reduce our dependence on foreign fuel?  All of the oil taken out of Alaska goes to JAPAN!  Oil from Florida would go to the Carribean for refining and then be re-imported to the US or sent to Latin American countries.  We have no refiner capacity in Florida so would be only a storage and transhipment point for the crude.

The oil we use comes from the US, Canada and Venezuala, not the Middle East.

Besides oil rigs offshore, we will have huge tank fields onshore and tanker transfer stations offshore to take the crude away for processing.

[BridgeTroll]

All of the oil taken out of Alaska goes to JAPAN!

Incorrect...
http://www.ipmall.info/hosted_resources/crs/RS22142_050506.pdf

Oil from Florida would go to the Carribean for refining and then be re-imported to the US or sent to Latin American countries.

No it wouldnt...

[FayeforCure]

Bridgetroll, big oil and many of the Republican enablers kept oil prices artificially up by leaving the Enron loophole in place,......and you are ok with artificially high oil prices due to rampant speculation?

You keep justifying everything Big Oil does, so in essence you condone this rampant speculation that kept oil prices at $4 dollars a gallon. Democrats have repeatedly tried to close the loophole and finally succeeded in 2008 when they had a majority in congress.

As for Dog Walker, he is right: more domestic production will increase our oil exports:

Does the U.S. export domestic oil? If so, how much, to where and why?

Name: Jack Camilleri
City & State: Mill Valley, Calif.


Question/Comment: Does the U.S. export domestic oil? If so, how much, to where and why?

Paul Solman: U.S. oil exports are up to 1.6 million barrels a day, according to a recent Reuters report. That's 9 percent of total refining capacity: 17.6 million barrels (abbreviated "bbl," no one is sure why).

By contrast, we import something like 13 MMbbl (13 million barrels) daily. Main recipients of our oil exports: Mexico, Canada, Chile, Singapore and Brazil.

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/businessdesk/2008/08/does-the-us-export-domestic-oi.html

[Doctor_K]

Shoddy reporting, as a 10-second trip to even Wikipedia would at least shed light to explain where "bbl" originates:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bbl#Oil_barrel

The "b" may have been doubled originally to indicate the plural (1 bl, 2 bbl), or possibly it was doubled to eliminate any confusion with bl as a symbol for the bale.

Poor.  Just goes to show how dead 'journalism' truly is.

In the meantime, I don't know enough about the business but I'd be all for stopping exports in favor of keeping domestically-drilled and -produced oil domestic.