Bush asks Congress to clear way for offshore oil drilling

[Parkbandit]

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- President Bush asked Congress Wednesday to permit drilling for oil in deep water off America's coasts to combat rising oil and gas prices.


If President Bush can persuade Congress, more oil rigs like this one off Canada could appear off U.S. shores.

"There is no excuse for delay," the president said in a Rose Garden statement.

Bush also renewed his demand that Congress allow drilling in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, or ANWR, clear the way for more refineries and encourage efforts to recover oil from shale in areas such as the Green River Basin of Colorado, Utah and Wyoming.

Bush said that the basin potentially contains more than three times as much recoverable oil as Saudi Arabia's proven reserves, and that the high price of oil makes it profitable to extract it.

"In the short run, the American economy will continue to rely largely on oil, and that means we need to increase supply here at home," said Bush, adding there is no more pressing issue than gas prices for many Americans.

The White House estimates there are 18 billion barrels of oil offshore that have not been exploited because of state bans, 10 billion to 12 billion in the Alaska National Wildlife Reserve, and 800 billion barrels of recoverable oil in the Green River Basin.

However, much of the U.S. oil is difficult or impossible to extract under current law.

Oil production cost
Here's what the price of a barrel of oil needs to be for different sources of petroleum to be profitably extracted:

- Accessible land: $19
- Shallow water: $20-60
- Deep water: $60
- Shale mining: $30-50
- Oil Sands: $50-60

Current price per barrel: $134

Sources: U.S. Govt. CERA, Rand, EnCana As for gas prices, resuming offshore exploration would not be a quick fix.

"If we were to drill today realistically speaking we should not expect a barrel of oil coming out of this new resource for three years, maybe even five years, so let's not kid ourselves," said Fadel Gheit, oil and gas analyst with Oppenheimer & Co. Equity Capital Markets Division.

But it almost certainly would be profitable.

Candida Scott, an oil industry researcher at Cambridge Research Associates, said oil needs to be priced at $60 a barrel or more to justify deep-shelf drilling. With oil now selling for $134 a barrel, companies are almost assured of profiting from offshore drilling, Scott said.

"For years, the president has pushed Congress to expand our domestic oil supply, but Democrats in Congress have consistently blocked such action," White House Press Secretary Dana Perino told CNN before Bush spoke.

She added, "As with several existing Republican congressional proposals, he wants to work with states to determine where offshore drilling should occur, and also for the federal government to share revenues with the states. The president believes Congress shouldn't waste any more time."

Democrats were quick to reject Bush's proposal.

"After eight years, President Bush and [Vice President] Dick Cheney have turned the GOP into the Gas and Oil Party. That's the legacy that they are going to leave," said Rep. Edward Markey of Massachusetts, chairman of the House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming.

"The White House has become a ventriloquist for the oil and gas industry, repeating the requests of the oil and gas industry -- that they be allowed to destroy the most pristine areas of our country," Markey added.

Congressional Democrats last week introduced a bill to compel oil companies to begin utilizing federal land they already lease.

http://edition.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS...ef=mpstoryview


About mother fucking time. Now, let's watch Congress drag their feet, driving up gas prices even higher and hope that the American people will somehow blame McCain for this.

JUST saying that we're going to start drilling our own reserves will immediately have a positive affect on the speculation price of oil.

[Parkbandit]

And our 2 Presidential nominees chime in:

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Democrat Barack Obama Tuesday accused White House rival John McCain of "posturing" as the Republican, tapping voters' anxiety about sky-high fuel prices, called for offshore oil drilling.

ADVERTISEMENT


In a speech later in the Texas oil capital of Houston, the Arizona senator was to call for a 27-year-old moratorium on offshore exploration to be lifted -- reversing his own support for the ban when he ran for president in 2000.

McCain was again to push for a summer suspension of federal taxes on gasoline, to ease a little of the pain at the pump for voters already reeling from an epidemic of home foreclosures and job losses.

Obama, who has been hammering McCain and the Republicans on the economy, said his White House opponent's support of the moratorium in 2000 was "certainly laudable."

"But his decision to completely change his position and tell a group of Houston oil executives exactly what they wanted to hear today was the same Washington politics that has prevented us from achieving energy independence for decades," the Illinois senator said in a statement.

"Much like his gas tax gimmick that would leave consumers with pennies in savings, opening our coastlines to offshore drilling would take at least a decade to produce any oil at all, and the effect on gasoline prices would be negligible at best since America only has three percent of the world's oil.

"It's another example of short-term political posturing from Washington, not the long-term leadership we need to solve our dependence on oil."

Obama is pushing for a "windfall tax" on oil companies' record profits and for federal investment of 150 billion dollars over 10 years in renewable and green energies.

McCain backs market solutions but scents opportunity in portraying Obama as being out of touch with voters' pocketbook concerns.

"We have proven oil reserves of at least 21 billion barrels in the United States," he said in excerpts from his Houston speech.

"But a broad federal moratorium stands in the way of energy exploration and production. And I believe it is time for the federal government to lift these restrictions and to put our own reserves to use," McCain said.

"People are hurting -- small farmers, truckers and taxi drivers unable to cover their costs, small-business owners struggling to meet payroll, the cost of living rising and the value of paychecks falling."

The 1981 moratorium prevents states from allowing oil companies to conduct offshore drilling and exploration. Virtually the entire Atlantic and Pacific coastlines are protected, along with sections of the Gulf of Mexico.

McCain said environmental controls were strong enough to permit safe offshore exploration, although the Republican governors of Florida and California -- both McCain supporters -- dispute this.

But at the same time, McCain opposes drilling in "pristine" areas such as Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, putting him at odds with many in his party.

With global crude prices in sight of 140 dollars a barrel, US gasoline prices now average more than four dollars a gallon. While still low by European standards, that is a rise of one dollar in just 12 months.

In a new Washington Post-ABC News poll Tuesday, nearly 80 percent said soaring pump prices were causing them financial hardship, which the Post said was the highest figure in surveys this decade.

The poll gave Obama a narrow lead of 48 percent to 42 percent over McCain among all voters. The two fared evenly among independent voters but Obama had a 16-point lead as the best candidate for the faltering economy.

The candidates were virtually tied on which was more trusted to handle Iraq, which Obama intends to visit before the November election. McCain, however, had the edge in international affairs and terrorism.

McCain lobbied anew to suspend the 18.4 cent federal tax on gasoline and 24.4 cent diesel tax until Labor Day on September 1.

"Even in tough times for our economy, when folks are struggling to pay for gas and groceries, tax relief just isn't change he can believe in," McCain said, turning Obama's mantra of change against the Democrat.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080617...e_080617152443



I love Obama, trying to paint McCain as a flip flopper on this issue. I think he forgot that there is a BIG difference between $30 a barrel oil in 2000.. and $140 a barrel oil in 2008.

[Parkbandit]

Last one...

If you want to put some 'pressure' on our do nothing Congress, there is a site called "Drill here, Drill now" where you can sign a petition that is supposedly being presented to them. Currently, there are 900K+ signatures.

http://www.americansolutions.com/act...b-346a1e096659

[ClydeR]

I'm glad to see McCain is finally coming around. It was easy for him to say that he opposed offshore drilling when he was just a Senator. But now that he is nearly president, he is starting to see that President Bush was right about most things.

[Daniel]

Yea! that's right! Don't address the root causes of the problem, but instead look for quick fixes that won't actually do anything and use the profitibility of companies as your justification!

That's an awesome idea!!

/italics

You do realize that the profits of oil companies is not exactly high on the list of concerns for the average american right? Post something about how it will actually lower prices of gas presently. That might actually be relevant.

[Parkbandit]

Yea! that's right! Don't address the root causes of the problem, but instead look for quick fixes that won't actually do anything and use the profitibility of companies as your justification!

That's an awesome idea!!

/italics

You do realize that the profits of oil companies is not exactly high on the list of concerns for the average american right? Post something about how it will actually lower prices of gas presently. That might actually be relevant.

I would talk about profits and such, but it's obvious that would be well above your head. We could talk about the 8.7% profit of the big bad oil companies being the middle of the road for any company profit (I'm currently at 19.3% in my business) but that would again be confusing to you. You hear the term billion and just automatically think "THAT'S ALOT OF MONEY I AIN' GETTIN!" without any thought of the infrastructure or cost of getting that money.

We should just stick with your retarded idea of taxing the shit out of gas to force people to change.

I didn't use italics on purpose here.

[Daniel]

Tell me: When you read my post, did you even make an attempt to put it into context or you know...comprehend what I said?

Serious question.

[Gan]

Last one...

If you want to put some 'pressure' on our do nothing Congress, there is a site called "Drill here, Drill now" where you can sign a petition that is supposedly being presented to them. Currently, there are 900K+ signatures.

http://www.americansolutions.com/act...b-346a1e096659

Thanks PB.

I signed and sent the link on to others as well.

[Gan]

Yea! that's right! Don't address the root causes of the problem, but instead look for quick fixes that won't actually do anything and use the profitibility of companies as your justification!

That's an awesome idea!!

/italics

You do realize that the profits of oil companies is not exactly high on the list of concerns for the average american right? Post something about how it will actually lower prices of gas presently. That might actually be relevant.

Anyone who knows about offshore drilling would tell you that the fields that are new and prohibited for drilling are anything but a quick fix with regards to how long it will take to extract the crude thats available and get it to the refineries.

I dont agree with this being a quick fix. I see it as original government intervention when the prohibition was placed to begin with. This is just an opportunity to use the same political opportunity (albiet different side) to right the original wrong that took place initially.

If there's oil there then the free market needs to be able to extract it without government interference. Not to mention any domestic contribution to our oil reserves/refinery output is that much less dependance we have on foreign crude being imported. Sure it wont match our current consumption (which is falling considerably due to the current price levels). Consumption behaviors are changing and alternative markets are being stimulated - it will just take time for those alternatives to test out as being more efficient and easily replicable.

[Sean]

Originally Posted by Parkbandit
Last one...

If you want to put some 'pressure' on our do nothing Congress, there is a site called "Drill here, Drill now" where you can sign a petition that is supposedly being presented to them. Currently, there are 900K+ signatures.

http://www.americansolutions.com/act...b-346a1e096659

Serious question. Since drilling around the Floria coastline is an actual topic how do you feel about it?