HELLO DR. CHU WAKE UP!
By Dan Springer
Published April 25, 2011 | FoxNews.com
Shell Oil Company has announced it must scrap efforts to drill for oil this summer in the Arctic Ocean off the northern coast of Alaska. The decision comes following a ruling by the EPA’s Environmental Appeals Board to withhold critical air permits. The move has angered some in Congress and triggered a flurry of legislation aimed at stripping the EPA of its oil drilling oversight.
Shell has spent five years and nearly $4 billion dollars on plans to explore for oil in the Beaufort and Chukchi Seas. The leases alone cost $2.2 billion. Shell Vice President Pete Slaiby says obtaining similar air permits for a drilling operation in the Gulf of Mexico would take about 45 days. He’s especially frustrated over the appeal board’s suggestion that the Arctic drill would somehow be hazardous for the people who live in the area. “We think the issues were really not major,” Slaiby said, “and clearly not impactful for the communities we work in.”
The closest village to where Shell proposed to drill is Kaktovik, Alaska. It is one of the most remote places in the United States. According to the latest census, the population is 245 and nearly all of the residents are Alaska natives. The village, which is 1 square mile, sits right along the shores of the Beaufort Sea, 70 miles away from the proposed off-shore drill site.
The EPA’s appeals board ruled that Shell had not taken into consideration emissions from an ice-breaking vessel when calculating overall greenhouse gas emissions from the project. Environmental groups were thrilled by the ruling.
“What the modeling showed was in communities like Kaktovik, Shell’s drilling would increase air pollution levels close to air quality standards,” said Eric Grafe, Earthjustice’s lead attorney on the case. Earthjustice was joined by Center for Biological Diversity and the Alaska Wilderness League in challenging the air permits.
At stake is an estimated 27 billion barrels of oil. That’s how much the U. S. Geological Survey believes is in the U.S. portion of the Arctic Ocean. For perspective, that represents two and a half times more oil than has flowed down the Trans Alaska pipeline throughout its 30-year history. That pipeline is getting dangerously low on oil. At 660,000 barrels a day, it’s carrying only one-third its capacity.
Production on the North Slope of Alaska is declining at a rate of about 7 percent a year. If the volume gets much lower, pipeline officials say they will have to shut it down. Alaska officials are blasting the Environmental Protection Agency.
“It’s driving investment and production overseas,” said Alaska’s DNR Commissioner Dan Sullivan. “That doesn’t help the United States in any way, shape or form.”
The EPA did not return repeated calls and e-mails. The Environmental Appeals Board has four members: Edward Reich, Charles Sheehan, Kathie Stein and Anna Wolgast. All are registered Democrats and Kathie Stein was an activist attorney for the Environmental Defense Fund. Members are appointed by the EPA administrator. Alaska’s Republican senator thinks it’s time to make some changes.
“EPA has demonstrated that they’re not competent to handle the process,” said Sen. Lisa Murkowski. “So if they’re not competent to handle it, they need to get out of the way.”
Murkowski supported budget amendments that would have stripped the EPA of its oversight role in Arctic offshore drilling. The Interior Department issues air permits to oil companies working in the Gulf of Mexico.
Cuba's Deep-Water Drilling Proposal Raises Concern
Wall Street Journal --
Interior Secretary Ken Salazar expressed concern Thursday about Cuba's proposal to allow deep-water oil and gas drilling off the Florida coast.
The U.S. has banned offshore drilling in waters near the Florida coast.Following last year's Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico off the Louisiana coast, Mr. Salazar and other U.S. officials have been engaging Mexico, Brazil and other countries in discussions about offshore-drilling safety, following on U.S. actions to tighten safety standards.
But so far they haven't talked with officials in Cuba, where several global companies have signed leases, and Spain's Respol is expected to begin drilling this year.
"Obviously because it's located sixty miles off the coast of Florida, it's an issue that we're monitoring very carefully,"
HAVANA – Cuba says it will begin drilling five oil wells in the Gulf of Mexico this summer in hopes of locating enough crude to justify the costly exploration.
Manuel Marrero is an official with the Ministry of Basic Industry. He says the prospects of finding valuable reserves are “promising.”
Cuba’s domestic production is exclusively heavy oil with a high sulfur content. Its offshore Gulf waters could contain large quantities of lighter, sweet crude, although a test well in 2004 turned up modest discoveries.
Marrero says studies since then have pointed to “oil traps” in the marine floor, persuading partner companies to take on the expensive task of exploration in deep water.
He said Tuesday the drilling will run through 2013.
Interior Secretary Ken Salazar expressed concern Thursday about Cuba's proposal to allow deep-water oil and gas drilling off the Florida coast.
The U.S. has banned offshore drilling in waters near the Florida coast.Following last year's Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico off the Louisiana coast, Mr. Salazar and other U.S. officials have been engaging Mexico, Brazil and other countries in discussions about offshore-drilling safety, following on U.S. actions to tighten safety standards.
But so far they haven't talked with officials in Cuba, where several global companies have signed leases, and Spain's Respol is expected to begin drilling this year.
"Obviously because it's located sixty miles off the coast of Florida, it's an issue that we're monitoring very carefully,"
HAVANA – Cuba says it will begin drilling five oil wells in the Gulf of Mexico this summer in hopes of locating enough crude to justify the costly exploration.
Manuel Marrero is an official with the Ministry of Basic Industry. He says the prospects of finding valuable reserves are “promising.”
Cuba’s domestic production is exclusively heavy oil with a high sulfur content. Its offshore Gulf waters could contain large quantities of lighter, sweet crude, although a test well in 2004 turned up modest discoveries.
Marrero says studies since then have pointed to “oil traps” in the marine floor, persuading partner companies to take on the expensive task of exploration in deep water.
He said Tuesday the drilling will run through 2013.
