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Oil Exploration Ramps Up In US Arctic
ananyo writes "A new round of exploratory oil drilling is due to begin in the Arctic this July. The oil giant Shell was granted permission some months ago by the U.S. government to drill two exploratory wells in the Beaufort Sea and three in the Chukchi Sea, both north of Alaska, this year — between 15 July and late September. The project is finally coming to fruition after years spent fighting legal challenges. It will be the first oil-exploration program to run in U.S. Arctic waters since 2000, and could mark the start of the first offshore commercial drilling in the American north, although it would take another decade to establish production wells."
Nothing changes until it is all gone.
Good.
My karma is not a Chameleon.
For techy people? Oh well, probably more topical that a fake severed head on a fake TV show.
FWIW, Shell has drilled in the Arctic before - several other exploratory wells. They've done quite a bit of due diligence to mitigate problems including painting their disaster recovery ship a dark blue so as not to scare the whales.
They realize quite perfectly if they have a major spill or blowout then the game is over. Further, there is no assurance that this will go anywhere beyond the exploratory wells - they may not find oil, they may not find much oil, it may cost too much to pull out.
And if they wait long enough, the whole area may turn into a tropical paradise, much like it was when the algae, etc. that created the biomass that subsequently became oil was alive.
Faster! Faster! Faster would be better!
Same thing with US creditors.
The sooner we decouple from the Muslim extremists the better
try { do() || do_not(); } catch (JediException err) { yoda(err); }
Uhh, anyone remember the BP oil spill ? I guess no one can forget that. It's clear with that attempt to stop the oil spill, any organisation or company didn't know how to stop it. It's also clear that any spill can't be stopped right now so why in the hell can the US go dig there ? This is beyond stupidity if you ask me.
I expect "Deadliest Drillers" to premiere any day now
I thought all drilling was banned - Hope & Change I can believe in.
Is the US arctic over near Alaska, because I am pretty sure it is. The Canadian arctic is completely different. Thanks.
The Economist has a funny quote in their article -http://www.economist.com/node/21556800 - on how faster-than-expected warming in the Arctic will open up previously inaccessible resources:
"Oil companies are reluctant to admit that climate change plays a part in their northward shift. They do not want to be seen to be profiting from the environmental damage to which their activities have contributed."
Chevron: We really don't care about the price of a barrel of oil one way or the other, except for those of us who have commodities futures in our portfolios. We've just successfully lobbied California to get the gas reformulated again so out of state gas can't compete in our private sandbox. Oh yeah, we'll be taking two of our refineries offline for preventive maintenance to celebrate this achievement.
why would they ask america (fuck yeah) for permission to drill there? its a sad sad news, though, bye bye penguins :(
Oil prices have everything to do with futures speculation and nothing to do with availability.
They're desperate, as they should be. There's less then 40 years of conventional oil at current usage rates. Far more importantly, the remaining oil is going to have declining energy return all the way to the bottom. If the oil companies can put the days of reckoning off for five more years, they've done well for themselves, and we have that much longer before people start starving.
Please do not read this sig. Thank you.
Oil Guy: Do you find it ironic that we denounce global warming, but use higher temps and lower ice mass to get more oil for more Carbon emissions?
Tobacco Guy: no, not at all.
I heard below 20% capacity or about 400,000 barrels a day it can become unsafe to operate in the winter. Its down to about 500,000 now.
I drove along the pipeline road from Valdez to Fairbanks 6 years ago. Its an amazing thing to see,
Meantime, many major car companies have come out with either EVs or plug-in hybrids. In the United States, automotive use accounts for the vast majority of our oil consumption, so how long before those two juggernauts collide?
When the tipping point is reached and people switch to EVs because OMG the sky is falling "range anxiety" issues disappear and because it's quicker, easier, cheaper, and feel-good-er to drive an EV, then the oil industry could well find itself in Kodak's shoes in the face of the digital camera revolution.
I for one am stocking up on hot dogs and marshmallows to roast over the bonfire of their vanities...
If not us, who? If not now, when?
Last time I checked it was owned by the US.
This is really great news. For the record I lived in Alaska and just moved back last year to the lower 48 and miss it greatly. Everyone is terrified of the oil pipeline shutting down completely by 2015. Besides the military there are no other employers in Alaska! The dividend fund where you get paid to live in Alaska is based off the oil pipeline, teachers including my exwife are paid by the oil pipeline. Even the universities get their money from the pipeline and are the next major employer over there.
By 2015 if the pressure is too low the pipeline will no longer be able to pump itself and it is game over. 40,000 would leave Anchorage overnight and devestate the housing market. The rest of the fallout would happen as I outlined above.
This is a great thing for the Indians who live up there who need jobs and get funds even and free education even if they are not employed by the oil industry directorly. Prudhoe buy in the arctic is perfectly clean and wildlife flourishes. The environmental record is fine and conservation and funding for researching into the arctic environments and protections of wildlife by the universities up in Alaska are all indirectly funded by big oil. It would be a loss.
http://saveie6.com/
Interesting, about in sync with that story about french ex-Minister-of-Ecology Nicole Bricq (green party) being "promoted" for speaking about cancelling Shell permits for exploration.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-06-14/shell-concerned-after-french-guiana-drilling-permits-halted.html
AFAIK now "cancellation" is "cancelled", in exchange for some millions.
Why was this modded down?
This is not flamebait, and is a simply fact that the Beaufort Sea is on the Alaskan coast and Alaska benefits more from this differently than any other state. It might not sound kosher to those living in the lower 48 but that is the perspective from folks who live there as I never met a single person from there who opposes it.
http://saveie6.com/
Why was this modded down?
This is not flamebait, and is a simply fact that the Beaufort Sea is on the Alaskan coast and Alaska benefits more from this differently than any other state. It might not sound kosher to those living in the lower 48 but that is the perspective from folks who live there as I never met a single person from there who opposes it.
The truth is that your comment is modded down because Liberal/Progressive Slashdot posters, and Lib/Progs in general, don't want ANYONE living there.
They want it all left to the wildlife. They want to make it harder to live in Alaska.
Besides, it's really hard for the government to police thought-crimes, plant agents, engage in surveillance, and institute modern Progressive social-engineering programs and policies up there when everyone knows everyone else in these small villages and anyone coming in and out has to arrive and depart in small planes, making being inconspicuous impossible. Much better for Progressive government agendas to force as many Alaskans and natives out as they can.
"...and could mark the start of the first offshore commercial drilling in the American north, although it would take another decade to establish production wells."
Thats the real problem right there. In 10 years it might not even be needed with how fast technology advances.
The last thing we need is drilling in the Arctic areas. Spills are inevitable and we need to stop sucking upon the oil teat anyway. What we really need is a five year ban on all commercial and sport fishing in the Atlantic north of the equator to try to reverse some of the damage already done. We also need to restore coastal lands as fish breeding areas exclusively and remove human habitation from coastal areas.
Obama, the Republican's Democrat...
blindly antisocialist = antisocial
As a Norwegian I don't understand your frankly ignorant attack on Arctic resource exploitation. We have been active in this region for a long time, with rapidly increasing activity levels the last two decades.
As an Arctic nation we are very concerned with regards to our environment and safety. We have a proven track record.
May I ask if you have any real knowledge of the region or indeed oil & gas exploration?