Results tagged “offshore”

Yesterday author, lawyer and blogger Byron King sent me a copy of an article, published in Outstanding Investments newsletter, expressing his thoughts on the tragic loss of the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig. Byron writes that the accident "is hitting home" with him. He recently visited a drillship owned by Transocean, which is the same company that owns and operated the rig that caught fire and sank in the Gulf of Mexico. What he learned apparently gave him a profound sense of respect for the crew.

In today's episode, I interview Rep. Dean Cannon, Speaker Designate of the Florida House of Representatives, about his bill to open up Florida's State-owned waters to offshore drilling. Rep. Cannon says this proposed bill would help boost the state's economy while protecting Florida's tourism sector. He also references a recent study, conducted by the Willis Group, which shows the low risks associated with offshore drilling.

In today's episode, I interview Erik Milito, API's group director of upstream and industry operations, about President Obama's plan to open areas on the Outer Continental Shelf for offshore drilling. Erik says this is a step in the right direction, and explains how opening even more areas offshore could benefit the economy.

In a Tallahassee Democrat op-ed published this week, the Florida Petroleum Council's Dave Mica challenges recent inaccurate claims that oil and natural gas jobs are declining and production off Florida's coast will harm the tourism industry.

In today's episode, I interview Bruce Allen, physicist and co-founder of SOS California, about his research on natural oil seeps and the positive impact oil and natural gas production has on California's coastal environment. Bruce says studies show Santa Barbara's offshore production reduces naturally occurring oil seeps, helping to decrease water pollution and improve air quality.

In today's episode, I interview Brett Vassey, president and CEO of the Virginia Manufacturers Association, about the state's energy summit scheduled for March 11 and the importance of accessing oil and natural gas resources off Virginia's coast.

An op-ed published in Sunday's Richmond Times-Dispatch illustrates the support for Virginia's offshore drilling plan.

Titled "Energy in Virginia: An Easy Decision for Obama," the op-ed is authored jointly by Brett Vassey, president and CEO of the Virginia Manufacturers Association, and Mike Ward, executive director of the Virginia Petroleum Council.

Offshore drilling will be on the agenda when Florida's annual legislative session begins tomorrow. No legislation has been introduced yet, but AP reports that resolutions have been introduced to lift drilling bans in federal waters near Florida's coastline.

The Commonwealth of Virginia has signaled that it's ready for offshore energy development.

This week the state Senate passed a proposal that provides a roadmap for the allocation of offshore energy royalties and revenues, devoting 70 percent to transportation, 20 percent to alternative energy research and 10 percent to local governments.

In today's episode, I speak with Col. Marty Sullivan about energy and military operations coexisting in the eastern Gulf of Mexico. Col. Sullivan is president of the Commonwealth Consulting Corporation, which just completed a study commissioned by Securing America's Future Energy (SAFE) on proposed offshore oil exploration in the Eastern Gulf and its impact on training missions.

Breaking from his predecessor, Virginia's Governor-elect Bob McDonnell sent a letter to Interior Secretary Salazar, asking the administration to move forward with a scheduled offshore lease sale in 2011. McDonnell says "offshore energy exploration and production will be a priority" during his four-year term as governor. The Commonwealth's current Gov. Tim Kaine sought to delay the lease sale.

Yesterday's events at the Copenhagen meeting and in Washington illustrated the difficulty in finding agreement on climate change policy. In Denmark, the United States and China came to an impasse over the monitoring and verification of promised carbon dioxide emission cuts.

China refused to allow international monitoring of its carbon dioxide levels, and the United States balked at joining an international agreement without Chinese emission level verification. Earlier in the day, delegates representing poor nations walked out in protest, claiming that developing nations are not doing enough to reduce emissions.

A Walton Sun (Florida) op-ed, authored by geoscientist Al Swiercz and published last week, discussed the benefits of offshore drilling for Florida residents and the United States. Swiercz said that exploration would "not only protect the beauty of our beaches, but allow us to reap the benefits of offshore exploration," including tax revenues, jobs--including "blue-collar" rig jobs which pay upwards of $75,000 per year--and great fishing areas around offshore platforms.

At least three oil companies announced yesterday they were shutting in some production as Ida began to bear down on oil and natural gas facilities in the Gulf of Mexico. BP, Chevron and Marathon reduced production and evacuated some of their offshore facilities. Also, the Louisiana Offshore Oil Port (LOOP) stopped offloading tankers as sea conditions began to deteriorate.

As I've discussed on this blog, I recently traveled with a group of bloggers to visit man-made islands where drilling for oil and natural gas occurs in coastal waters--the THUMS Islands in Long Beach, CA.

Another voice in the news can be added to the list of those favoring increased access to our nation's offshore oil and natural gas resources. Last week, a Florida Sun-Sentinel op-ed authored by Dave Mica, executive director of the Florida Petroleum Council, discussed the new jobs, increased revenues, and energy security that offshore energy development could bring to the nation and the state of Florida--all with minimal impact to the surrounding environment.

Virginia Delegate Chris Saxman--a featured speaker at the Richmond Energy Citizens rally--authored an op-ed in today's Richmond Times-Dispatch highlighting the one-year anniversary of lifting the Congressional OCS moratorium and the continued lack of progress on offshore energy development.

U.S. oil and natural gas drilling rose slightly in the third quarter of 2009, but it still was quite sluggish. "API's Quarterly Well Completion Report: Third Quarter" showed that total well completions rose 10.2 percent from the second quarter of this year, but the total number of wells and dry holes was down 46 percent from 2008's third quarter.

An op-ed in last week's Osceola News Gazette by Florida state representative Mike Horner discussed the importance of domestic oil and natural gas production, and how production could bring additional revenues, thousands of well-paying jobs, and greater energy security to Florida and our nation.

This week's episode focuses on a recent tour of the THUMS Islands, a group of four manmade islands in California's Long Beach Harbor, where oil and natural gas are produced. The episode also features sound bites from Frank Komin, president of Occidental Petroleum, and Charlie Plant, production manager of White Island.