Results tagged “deepwater drilling moratorium”

Interestingly, the poll also shows 64 percent of Democrats say the drilling freeze should continue, while 66 percent of Republicans favor removing the moratorium.

"Failure to consider the full effect of proposed laws and moratoria, as well as the operation of existing laws, could jeopardize thousands of jobs and further damage the Gulf Coast economy."

The relief well's drill bit is nearing the point where it will intercept Macondo's wellbore. If all goes as planned, Retired Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen says the Macondo well will be permanently sealed early next week.

Last week, Ensco Offshore Co. filed a 450-page brief in its suit against the moratorium, accusing the administration of imposing "onerous new requirements for both shallow water and deep-water drilling" that violate the government's own rulemaking process. Rather than sending "notices to lessees" containing new drilling requirements, Ensco asserts the government should have issued a formal notice of rulemaking and held a public comment period.

At present, the relief well is one of only 11 rigs operating in Gulf waters deeper than 500 feet, under exemptions to the administration's the deepwater drilling moratorium. Each of these rigs is working in proven reserves, and none is actively searching for new oil and natural gas discoveries.

If a picture is worth a thousand words, how much is a billboard covered with thousands of signatures worth?

This billboard, overlooking I-10 in Louisiana, is covered with the signatures of the estimated 11,000 people who attended the Rally for Economic Survival at the Cajundome. Many were energy workers whose jobs are threatened by the drilling moratorium. Others are Gulf Coast residents who support oil patch activities and depend on the energy business for their livelihoods.

Michael Bromwich, director of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement (BOEM), refused to give a date for ending the offshore drilling moratorium yesterday. In New Orleans at the first of eight public hearings on drilling safety, Bromwich only said "there will be a very serious, sustained effort" to shorten the moratorium. (AP)

We've told you about the moratorium and the toll it's taking on the U.S. economy. When combined with congressional legislation, it could result in the loss of 175,000 jobs per year and a 27 percent decline in U.S. oil production.

But have you seen the faces of the people who are most affected?

Today could be D-Day for the Macondo well. According to reports, BP is conducting a test to determine the likely success of killing the well from the top, while getting in position to assault the well from the bottom.

This two-pronged attack is expected to begin tonight or tomorrow with a static kill in which heavy drilling muds are pumped into the Macondo's cap and down into the well.

With the House and the Senate poised to vote on energy bills before the August recess, editorial and op-ed writers are taking Congress to task for neglecting the primary issues confronting the United States today--jobs and the economy.

At a time when millions of Americans are out of work and worried about their family budgets, they say Congress and the administration are using the oil spill to enact legislation that could do more economic harm than good:

Rather than deal with the Gulf oil spill in a reasoned fashion, the administration and some in Congress have put forth a barrage of political proposals that could jeopardize jobs and domestic energy production, and deal heavy blows to the economy overall.

What if Congress and the administration approve many of the deepwater drilling measures that are now being debated? And what if their actions result in unlimited liability for oil spills, additional regulations on well and rig designs, higher taxes and fees and an extended moratorium that cancelled drilling projects?

The economic impacts could be dire.

Yesterday API hosted a conference call with 11 bloggers to discuss pressing energy issues following the Deepwater Horizon incident.

Topics discussed included the deepwater drilling moratorium, the potential economic impact of new taxes being considered by Congress, oil spill liability issues, and new ethanol standards proposed by the EPA.

They showed up at Louisiana State University's (LSU) the University of Louisiana at Lafayette's (ULL) Cajundome in droves, an estimated 15,000 thousand people who decided to stand up and be counted. They were energy workers, housewives, fishermen, and small-business people united in their desire to get back to work.

"I'm here because I'm worried," John Henry told an Associated Press reporter. "We're already slowing things down at work. If companies can't drill, it will get worse."

It's been three months since the Deepwater Horizon accident, and finally one new offshore drilling project has been approved.

According to government data updated daily, a shallow-water project has been OK'd under both of the new Notices to Lessees and Operators (NTLs) which contain new requirements.

Two separate studies indicate that tens of thousands of Gulf Coast jobs and billions of dollars in economic growth are likely to disappear as a result of the administration's deepwater drilling moratorium and the leaking well.

Almost three-quarters of Americans oppose the administration's deepwater drilling ban, according to a new Bloomberg National Poll.

The poll, which was conducted July 9-12, found that 73 percent of Americans believe the moratorium is unnecessary, and they call the Deepwater Horizon tragedy a "freak accident."

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar made good on his promise Monday and issued a new drilling moratorium. As he stated in a news release:

"I am basing my decision on evidence that grows every day of the industry's inability in the deepwater to contain a catastrophic blowout, respond to an oil spill, and to operate safely."

Of course, the moratorium will do nothing to improve the engineering and geological knowledge required to solve the immediate problem. It won't help the industry contain blowouts. It won't improve spill-response technology. And it won't encourage safer operations. But it will put tens of thousands of Americans out of work, reduce domestic oil and natural gas production and make the United States increasingly reliant on other countries for energy.

The Interior Department's new moratorium on deepwater drilling is not necessary for safety and will cost jobs, harm the Gulf region and weaken our nation's energy security.