Results tagged “energy security”

The study states that "as a result of the oil spill, the future costs of drilling and operating in the Gulf will rise considerably" due to the following factors: 

American citizens have plenty to worry about. With 15 million workers in unemployment lines, family budgets under pressure, and higher taxes looming on the horizon, Americans from all walks of life are feeling insecure and wondering about their children's futures.

"I am officially announcing that API will host additional citizen rallies starting early next month in conjunction with other local and national groups.  We'll be taking the lead on the rallies, but we are partnering with local energy and business groups in every location.  We're kicking off the program with three rallies in Texas on September 1st, and we are now finalizing plans for rallies in Ohio, Illinois, Colorado and New Mexico.

How these costs are treated for tax purposes directly impacts the economics of a project.  Though a substantial portion of the costs are recovered over a long period of time, exploration and production companies do get a tax deduction for the labor associated with drilling to defray some of the upfront risk and economic cost.

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.

A new Rasmussen poll shows that support for offshore oil and natural gas development is holding steady despite the Deepwater Horizon accident. In a survey conducted July 22-23 via telephone, 56 percent of U.S. voters think offshore drilling should be allowed, and 47 percent favor deepwater drilling.

Unfortunately, new offshore development has ground to a standstill, and shallow-water drilling operators have discovered that complying with the government's new requirements is quite difficult. Blogger Vladimir at RedState says, "Operators have encountered road blocks at every turn."

A congressional proposal to raise the liability limit from $75 million to $10 billion on the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund could threaten the viability of deepwater operations, significantly reduce U. S. domestic oil production, and harm U.S. energy security.

Today, the preliminary results of Central Gulf Lease Sale 213, held in New Orleans, were announced. 

The sale received 642 bids on 468 leases--34 percent higher than last year's Central Gulf Lease Sale 208--and garnered $949 million in high bids, up from $703 million in last year's sale.

As we've been saying here for the past several weeks, the oil and natural gas industry could help to pull the economy out of the doldrums if it were allowed to search for and produce more domestic energy. The United States has abundant energy resources, and developing them could create hundreds of thousands of well-paying jobs, send much needed revenues to federal, state and local governments to pay for services, and improve U.S. energy security.

The Interior Department's Minerals Management Service (MMS) yesterday announced that it is shortening the lease terms for many offshore Gulf of Mexico oil and natural gas prospects. In a statement, MMS announced it would offer leases to energy companies in March, but that the leasing periods would be reduced from ten years to seven years for leases in depths of 800 to 1,600 meters. Three-year extensions could be made available to drillers who begin a well during the initial leasing term.

(Learn more about the leasing process with our interactive timeline.)

An op-ed by Bernard Weinstein, associate director of the Macguire Energy Institute and an adjunct professor of Business Economics at the Cox School of Business at Southern Methodist University, adds some much needed common sense to today's political discussion about energy taxes.

As we begin a New Year, many of us think about New Year's resolutions. Some people want to find more time to exercise amid busy schedules, while others hope to learn more about a particular topic that interests them.

If you're interested in learning more about issues affecting you--particularly energy issues--you're in luck. Today, we're launching our newest interactive, College of Knowledge, where YOU are the student.

This week's episode focuses on an Institute for Energy Research article that discusses China's recent upswing in investing in oil and gas resources outside its borders, while the United States promotes more investment in solar and wind power.

As we approach the end of year, it's time to take stock of 2009 and pause long enough in our holiday preparations to look forward to 2010. While none of us can predict the future--my snow globe doesn't double as a crystal ball--there are three organizations that have made projections of oil demand in the coming year.

• The Energy Information Administration (EIA), a division of the U.S. Department of Energy, projects that oil demand will rise by 1.1 million barrels a day in 2010. 
• The Organization of Oil Exporting Countries (OPEC) similarly predicts that demand will increase 0.8 million barrels a day. 
• The International Energy Agency (IEA) has stated that world oil demand will rise by 1.5 million barrels a day to a total of 86.3 million barrels a day.

Have you ever wondered how other countries are preparing for their energy future? According to the Institute for Energy Research (IER), China is quietly investing in oil and natural gas supplies around the globe, including in North America, while the United States is hoping that wind and solar power will fuel the economy.

In a new report entitled, "China Secures Oil and Gas Resources; U.S. Prefers to Wait for Green Energy," IER explains that China is getting a foothold on oil and natural gas supplies in Canada and the Gulf of Mexico because the United States "seems to be giving it elbow room."

Although the oil and natural gas industry was not invited to the White House Jobs Summit yesterday, API today unveiled a legislative proposal that could create hundreds of thousands of jobs.

An article in today's Shreveport Times discusses the initial production results of Bossier Shale formation, and the findings are encouraging enough that it is expected to become a major player in U.S. natural gas development. The first Bossier Shale well was drilled in August flowed at 9.4 million cubic feet per day.

"Remarkable" was the word used by Energy Information Administrator Richard Newell last week to describe the sharp rise in U.S. natural gas reserves. In a report issued by his agency last week, Newell noted that U.S. proven natural gas reserves rose 3 percent in 2008.

The report also showed that natural gas reserves in shale formations rose an astonishing 51 percent over 2007. "This year's report underscores for a second year the technological shift in domestic exploration and production from conventional reserves to unconventional shales," Newell said.

Yesterday, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar announced that a second round of oil shale research and development on leases with vastly diminished potential commercial acreage will resume.

Secretary Salazar's decision is a positive step in the process of developing the innovation and technology needed to bring production from the nation's vast oil shale resources to American consumers.