Reversing its previous stance, the Obama administration is proposing that offshore oil and gas drilling be allowed along parts of the Atlantic coast, the eastern portion of the Gulf of Mexico and in 130 million acres in the Arctic Ocean north of Alaska.
According to estimates from the Mineral Management Services of the Department of the Interior, there are between 39 billion and 63 billion barrels of economically recoverable oil and between 17 trillion cubic feet and 29.4 trillion cubic feet of economically recoverable natural gas in the eight planning areas under consideration for leasing under the 2012-17 program.
MMS said that represents as much as 80 percent of the undiscovered economically recoverable oil and gas on the U.S. outer continental shelf. The oil industry, along with the plastic and chemical industries, has long petitioned the government to open up more acres of water to offshore drilling to help reduce the price of feedstocks and fuels, and reduce dependency on foreign fuels.
Actual drilling in much of the newly opened areas would not begin for years, as the administration’s proposal calls for the Interior Department to first conduct geological and environmental impact studies, with no lease sales scheduled before the 2012-17 oil leasing period.
The president unveiled his plan in a speech March 31 at Andrews Air Force Base in Washington.
The plan incorporates some of the offshore drilling proposals made by former President George W. Bush that were set aside after Obama took office. In Alaska, areas in the Beaufort and Chukchi seas would be opened for drilling, but no drilling would be allowed in Bristol Bay. The Bush plan had included Bristol Bay, where there are a number of commercial fisheries.
“This is not a decision that I’ve made lightly,” the president said in prepared remarks. “But in order to sustain economic growth, produce jobs and keep our businesses competitive, we’re going to need to harness traditional sources of fuel even as we ramp up production of new sources of renewable, homegrown energy.”
“There will be those who strongly disagree,” said Obama. “But this is part of a broader strategy that will move us from an economy that runs on fossil fuels and foreign oil to one that relies more on homegrown fuels and clean energy.”
The eastern Gulf area is considered the most oil-rich of the three areas, with an estimated 3.5 billion barrels of oil and 17 trillion cubic feet of gas, as estimated by MMS. However, drilling there often has been opposed by both environmental groups and a number of politicians in Alabama and Florida. Under the proposal, oil wells would have to be 125 miles offshore from those states.
“By responsibly expanding conventional energy development and exploration here at home we can strengthen our energy security, create jobs and help rebuild our economy,” said Interior Department Secretary Kenneth Salazar. “Our strategy calls for developing new areas offshore, exploring frontier areas and protecting places that are too special to drill.
“By providing order and certainty to offshore exploration and development and ensuring we are drilling in the right ways and the right places, we are opening a new chapter for balanced and responsible oil and gas development here at home.”
Salazar added that the Interior Department plans to hold two more lease sales in the current leasing 2007-12 leasing program — one of them 50 miles off the coast of Virginia and the other in Cook Inlet in Alaska, if there is interest from industry and development can be done in an environmentally responsible manner.
The Interior Department developed the oil-drilling proposal after digesting more than 500,000 public comments and a number of public hearings.
Tags: barack obama, business, economic recovery, economists, investors, USA
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