Drilling Ban

[mechanic]

My local tv news reported Congress was letting the drilling ban expire next week, on the Pacific and Atlantic coasts. Anyone else heard this?? It should boost heli offshore pilot positions soon, right?? Thoughts?

 

News Link

[permison]

Funny, I suggested this just a month or so ago and a number of people said it would never happen.

[mechanic]

I was thinking there was a thread or something related to this lately.

[permison]

Here you go. http://helicopterforum.verticalreference.c...?showtopic=9893

[Gomer Pylot]

The oil companies are already sitting on millions of acres of leases they can't drill, because the rigs don't exist. It might make some politicians feel better, but it will be years before there is any significant activity, if ever.

[Goldy]

My local tv news reported Congress was letting the drilling ban expire next week, on the Pacific and Atlantic coasts. Anyone else heard this?? It should boost heli offshore pilot positions soon, right?? Thoughts?

 

News Link

 

Yes, the federal ban will be allowed to expire next week. I dont think you will see any difference for years and years...if ever. It's still pretty expensive to operate a rig in the ocean, especially if you can tap into those same reserves from land. Besides oil in California is pretty dry right now, it used to gush from the ground in Wilshire district of Los Angeles....now it just smells bad !

 

Dollar for dollar, I think there are better drilling opportunites than the Cal coast..

[ADRidge]

what is it, like 250k/day for a shallow-water toadstool?

 

I'd hate to think about the cost of a production platform in 500' of water or deeper.

[adam32]

If the Dems don't tack on restrictions it will expire. But it is still only a "feel good" type of thing, there are still A LOT of restrictions the "evil" oil companies must go through.

 

There is a shortage of oil rigs, mainly due to other countries buying them since they saw the light WAY before our Govt did.

 

It will lower gas prices if it does happen though. All those speculators that every one hates, can now speculate we might eventually use our own oil and the prices will come down.

 

They need to do the "All of the Above" plan, but of course little miss Pelosi won't let it be voted on.

[helonorth]

If the Dems don't tack on restrictions it will expire. But it is still only a "feel good" type of thing, there are still A LOT of restrictions the "evil" oil companies must go through.

 

There is a shortage of oil rigs, mainly due to other countries buying them since they saw the light WAY before our Govt did.

 

It will lower gas prices if it does happen though. All those speculators that every one hates, can now speculate we might eventually use our own oil and the prices will come down.

 

They need to do the "All of the Above" plan, but of course little miss Pelosi won't let it be voted on.

Countries don't "buy" oil rigs. They are basically a commodity that is owned by international

corporations. And they go anywhere in the world they want to get best price per day.

 

Why do you think oil will come down if we can increase, by a fraction, what we produce? Oil

is also an international commodity. Consumption is mostly what dictates prices, in my

opinion. And we're just one player. It would be interesting to me if we could just realize

there is a simple solution: consuming less oil. But no one seems remotely interested in

that idea. All many people want to talk about is doing more drilling. We are setting ourselves

up for a real problem regardless of whether "little miss Pelosi" "lets" congress vote. The

oil companies really don't seem that interested in drilling in most of the prohibited areas,

(other than ANWR, and that's not on the table) anyway. Why are you?

Edited September 25, 2008 by helonorth

[Gomer Pylot]

Expiration of the drilling ban, such as it is, will have no effect at all on oil prices. There just isn't enough of it there. Even McCain has said that the effect will be only psychological, with no economic impact. The government recently projected that production could be increased by about 200,000 barrels per day within 10 years. We're currently refining a couple of million barrels per day. It will take years to even get the first drillbit into the ocean bottom, and years after that to start production. There are no pipelines in place to deliver any production, no facilities on shore to handle it, and the refineries already in existence are producing at capacity. We can barely handle the oil we're importing and producing now. Increased offshore oil production is a red herring, important only for getting votes in the upcoming election, nothing more.

[adam32]

Countries don't "buy" oil rigs. They are basically a commodity that is owned by international

corporations. And they go anywhere in the world they want to get best price per day.

 

Why do you think oil will come down if we can increase, by a fraction, what we produce? Oil

is also an international commodity. Consumption is mostly what dictates prices, in my

opinion. And we're just one player. It would be interesting to me if we could just realize

there is a simple solution: consuming less oil. But no one seems remotely interested in

that idea. All many people want to talk about is doing more drilling. We are setting ourselves

up for a real problem regardless of whether "little miss Pelosi" "lets" congress vote. The

oil companies really don't seem that interested in drilling in most of the prohibited areas,

(other than ANWR, and that's not on the table) anyway. Why are you?

 

Of course countries don't buy them, but the oil companies in those countries that are allowed to explore and extract their own oil are...

 

Do you ever watch oil prices? Whenever there is a scare of oil supply decreasing the price increases. Whenever there is speculation of a supply increase the price goes down.

 

Consumption AND supply is what dictates the price. I am all for consuming less oil, but we do still need it, and we will ALWAYS need it. So why not use our own domestic oil instead of relying on countries that don't like us a whole lot?

 

Do you even know the plan that I'm referring to that Pelosi won't allow to be voted on?

 

And yes, oil companies ARE interested in more exploration and extraction, since without oil, they can't make their "record profits"...

 

So what if it will take 5-10 years until we see the first drop of oil! Won't we still need it 5-10 years from now?

[Gomer Pylot]

The oil companies certainly think it's a good idea to use other countries' oil, and they've been doing it for years. It's cheaper, and lets them keep the US oil in the ground, instead of using it up now and having to buy at astronomical prices later.

[helonorth]

Of course countries don't buy them, but the oil companies in those countries that are allowed to explore and extract their own oil are...

 

Do you ever watch oil prices? Whenever there is a scare of oil supply decreasing the price increases. Whenever there is speculation of a supply increase the price goes down.

 

Consumption AND supply is what dictates the price. I am all for consuming less oil, but we do still need it, and we will ALWAYS need it. So why not use our own domestic oil instead of relying on countries that don't like us a whole lot?

 

Do you even know the plan that I'm referring to that Pelosi won't allow to be voted on?

 

And yes, oil companies ARE interested in more exploration and extraction, since without oil, they can't make their "record profits"...

 

So what if it will take 5-10 years until we see the first drop of oil! Won't we still need it 5-10 years from now?

Well you DID say countries buy oil rigs.

 

By consumption, I meant the more consumption, the less supply and the higher the price. Didn't

think I had to explain the whole thing. I was wrong.

 

I didn't say oil companies aren't interested in exploration. That would be silly! I said they

weren't that interested in the PROHIBITED areas. Read my post. Just because we get some

of our oil in our own backyard, won't make it cheaper. It all goes into one big "swimming

pool" of oil that we all buy from. The price is dictated globally.

 

The problem is that most of the oil is in parts of the world that (to put it mildly) are

not sympathetic to our energy needs, or anything else for that matter. THAT is the

problem. Not whether we can extract the small amount of oil in areas that the oil

companies are not even very interested in exploring.

 

No, I am not very familiar with the bill. They want more areas open for exploration. The

details are irrelevent.

 

Gomer, I didn't understand your last post. The oil companies don't buy oil. They produce it.

What am I missing?

 

By the way, I have no problem with more drilling offshore. It's how I make a living. It

just will have a negligible effect on our current or long term situation.

[helonorth]

Of course countries don't buy them, but the oil companies in those countries that are allowed to explore and extract their own oil are...

 

Do you ever watch oil prices? Whenever there is a scare of oil supply decreasing the price increases. Whenever there is speculation of a supply increase the price goes down.

 

Consumption AND supply is what dictates the price. I am all for consuming less oil, but we do still need it, and we will ALWAYS need it. So why not use our own domestic oil instead of relying on countries that don't like us a whole lot?

 

Do you even know the plan that I'm referring to that Pelosi won't allow to be voted on?

 

And yes, oil companies ARE interested in more exploration and extraction, since without oil, they can't make their "record profits"...

 

So what if it will take 5-10 years until we see the first drop of oil! Won't we still need it 5-10 years from now?

Well you DID say countries buy oil rigs.

 

By consumption, I meant the more consumption, the less supply and the higher the price. Didn't

think I had to explain the whole thing. I was wrong.

 

I didn't say oil companies aren't interested in exploration. That would be silly! I said they

weren't that interested in the PROHIBITED areas. Read my post. Just because we get some

of our oil in our own backyard, won't make it cheaper. It all goes into one big "swimming

pool" of oil that we all buy from. The price is dictated globally.

 

The problem is that most of the oil is in parts of the world that (to put it mildly) are

not sympathetic to our energy needs, or anything else for that matter. THAT is the

problem. Not whether we can extract the small amount of oil in areas that the oil

companies are not even very interested in exploring.

 

No, I am not very familiar with the bill. They want more areas open for exploration. Is

there anything else?

 

By the way, I have no problem with more drilling offshore. It's how I make a living. It

just will have a negligible effect on our current or long term situation.

[adam32]

Well you DID say countries buy oil rigs.

 

By consumption, I meant the more consumption, the less supply and the higher the price. Didn't

think I had to explain the whole thing. I was wrong.

 

I didn't say oil companies aren't interested in exploration. That would be silly! I said they

weren't that interested in the PROHIBITED areas. Read my post. Just because we get some

of our oil in our own backyard, won't make it cheaper. It all goes into one big "swimming

pool" of oil that we all buy from. The price is dictated globally.

 

The problem is that most of the oil is in parts of the world that (to put it mildly) are

not sympathetic to our energy needs, or anything else for that matter. THAT is the

problem. Not whether we can extract the small amount of oil in areas that the oil

companies are not even very interested in exploring.

 

No, I am not very familiar with the bill. They want more areas open for exploration. The

details are irrelevent.

 

Gomer, I didn't understand your last post. The oil companies don't buy oil. They produce it.

What am I missing?

 

By the way, I have no problem with more drilling offshore. It's how I make a living. It

just will have a negligible effect on our current or long term situation.

 

 

Yeah I did say countries, but didn't think I had to explain that one.

 

We are on the same page about consumption, I just wanted to clarify it a little. I try to drive less in my truck, buy the fuel burn in the helicopter more then makes up for it.

 

And yes, the companies ARE interested on drilling on our land and off our coasts. Better then China and Cuba drilling right off of Florida, isn't it? Your right, the oil would go on the global market, but guess what, more oil still means more supply. It doesn't matter where it comes from. I just wish we could keep it for our own country to use.

 

We have A LOT more oil in our country then most people know. It could/would last a VERY long time, thats not even including natural gas...about 200 years worth...

 

The bill is the "All of the Above" plan. More drilling everywhere, solar, wind, nuclear, hydrogen, bio-fuels, etc... Even wind plants are getting held up in the country due to "environment concerns". Once the Govt. and special interest groups let the private industry get to work, we will see lower prices.

[Gomer Pylot]

Oil companies are very vertical, Exxon et al not only produce crude oil, they also buy it (more than they produce, in many cases), refine it, and sell it. There are dozens of supertankers off the coast of the US at all times, offloading millions of barrels per day. Who do you think buys that oil? It ain't gas stations.