The irony is, we are being told the polar ice is melting at an unprecedented rate, so why are they worried about needing an icebreaker again? The whole thing is bollocks. On one hand we have Obama telling us we need to end our dependence on foreign oil…
“I will set a clear goal as president: in ten years we will finally end our dependence on oil in the Middle East,” said Democratic Presidential nominee Barack Obama. ” Source here
….then we have the EPA pulling this crap to prevent domestic oil production with the help of NGO’s.
EPA Shuts Down Drilling in Alaska
by Brian McGraw on globalwarming.org
Shell announced today, for now, it must end a project to drill for oil off the coast of Northern Alaska, because of a decision made by an EPA appeals board to deny permits to acknowledge that Shell will meet air quality requirements. This is not part of ANWR.
Companies that drill for oil must go through extensive permitting processes and invest billions of dollars as payments for leasing the land, exploring for possible oil fields, equipment, etc. This is all done with the understanding that assuming they follow the letter of the law, there is a chance that this investment won’t be flushed down the toilet at the end of the tunnel. It appears that in this case Shell has followed procedure and that emissions will be below any standards required by the EPA:
The EPA’s appeals board ruled that Shell had not taken into consideration emissions from an ice-breaking vessel when calculating overall greenhouse gas emissions from the project. Environmental groups were thrilled by the ruling.
“What the modeling showed was in communities like Kaktovik, Shell’s drilling would increase air pollution levels close to air quality standards,” said Eric Grafe, Earthjustice’s lead attorney on the case. Earthjustice was joined by Center for Biological Diversity and the Alaska Wilderness League in challenging the air permits.
Talk about moving the goalposts. They must have been really desperate to cancel this project given that this was the best straight-faced excuse they could muster. Not only do you have to be below the legally required emission limits but you must also not even be “close” to the limits, as defined by unelected officials, one of whom is a former attorney for the Environmental Defense Fund.
Events like this are a prime example of why many in Congress want to strip authority from the EPA. Shell had reportedly invested over $4 billion in this project. When companies make investment decisions, consideration is given to whether or not bureaucrats can make arbitrary decisions to shut the project down halfway through a multi-year process. There are many other countries with natural resource reserves who do not subject economic activity to such unpredictable insanity, and in the eye of a corporation, after an event like this these locations begin to look more preferable to dealing with the United States.
=================================================================
Events like this are a prime example of why many in Congress want to strip authority from the EPA. Shell had reportedly invested over $4 billion in this project.
Ya think?
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What were you guys thinking when you voted this anti-business administration in?
At every turn Obama and the Democrats have blamed big business for the problems in America when just the opposite is true.
Clinton built the platform for the sub-prime catastrophe yet the banks are blamed.
BP was crucified for an industrial accident that happened under government regulations.
Now Obama is implying collusion and gouging on the part of big oil.
Such a splendid giant of a country controlled by midgets.
While most commentators understandably and rightly discuss the impact of US energy and environmental policy on the US economy, it is worth noting that a number of countries in the Americas are suffering from high oil prices and do not have the wealth of the USA to allow them to pay. And they have noticed that the real culprit in oil price rises is not little Libya and its war but big USA and its resrictions on energy exploration and development. Not surprisingly they are now much keener on links with Venezuela and a slowly liberalising Cuba, not to mentin Brazil and Nigeria as oil producing and exporting countries. How easily does the USA lose influence in its own economic area!
Shell, tell them that you were going to use a Russian nuclear powered ice breaker.
You gotta love the way the Democrats ban this stuff to keep their Green credentials intact knowing full well that the Republicans will lift the ban the moment they get back in.
Democracy is just a big joke really.
When I saw this, I just saw the US President ruling by dictat. Chavez would be proud how he pulled this off in a democracy.
Gene Doc, you ask of Obewone
Who in the world does he think is going to pay for this?
He doesn’t care; he won’t. It is ideological for him.
Obama flies nearly every other day to give a “political speech” or “political fundraiser” or “attend the theater”.
Airforce 1 and the large motorcade (SUVs in it) may burn more fuel per trip than an icebreaker does in a month. Some in-USA trips burn over 50,000 gallons, if reports are to be believed.
Very expensive and wasteful of fuel (we pay for it). And, lots of CO2 for those that care about such things.
“Do as I say, not as I do” — comes to mind. The President must set the “example for the nation”. Its the job that he applied for. Its called “being Presidential”.
Oh – but SSam (SSam (April 26, 2011 at 10:46 pm)) – the shale oil is still a solid, and due to the high organic content – its a ‘rubbery’ solid. So even if one CAN frac it, it still needs to be heated up to convert the solid kerogen to a more liquid form (oil).
Lots of research still required. Which is why its sooo disconcerting that the Obama administration canceled the research plot licenses.
Its all just astonishing to me.
We get ‘Ice Road Truckers’ here in the UK….
Does your nice EPA take into account the exhausts from all those mighty Kenworths flogging up and down the Dalton Highway in permitting the drilling at Prudhoe Bay..?
One icebreaker..? If it wasn’t so serious it would be laughable…
Shanghai Dan says:
April 26, 2011 at 8:45 pm
Source? Because it appears to me we have ~270 YEARS of 100% of our needs locked up in our shale oil reserves. We could be a net-exporter of petroleum on the scale of Saudi Arabia if we really wanted to, and have abundant oil at under $30/barrel (gas down around $1 per gallon) if desired.
————–
That article kind of misses the point which isn’t a reserves issue, but a rate of production issue and cost. How many barrels of oil a day can be produced from the oil shale reserves and how much does it cost per barrel.
The article it links to says intial costs would be $70-$95 a barrel and so to make a profit you would need the oil price to stay above that for the duration of the operation. It suggests that it might come down with time, but you wouldn’t invest $billions in the hope that it might come down over time.
The only way to stop the US being dependent on Middle East oil is to use less oil.
I have a splendid idea for BP, Shell et al…
Cut off ALL supplies of fossil fuel product to all countries. Coal & oil.
I think the governments of the world will think twice about their energy policies when they’re presented with 2 weeks of nothing but “clean green energy”.
Sure, Joe Public will hate the mere thought of this kind of thing occurring, but sometimes desperate times call for drastic measures.
No oil. No electricity. I don’t know about you lot, but i’d be willing to personally put up with it if it teaches these bloody idiots in charge of our countries a good lesson about who’s REALLY in charge…
I used to snicker at all the Manchurian Candidate comments about Obama, now I find the scenario quite possible. The man is total disaster and is bringing this country to its knees. Please don’t show him the Queen of Diamonds.
I wish Donald Trump would dump the Birther thing, stop “converting” to Social Conservatism and just hammer the Democrats and Barry on the economy, immigration, and China non stop, for a year and a half. Getting the nomination is not even important, just to have someone who has the balls and the experience to tackle this administration head on and set an agenda for the Republicans is plenty beneficial.
That being said I think this country is more than ready for a real outsider with business acumen to take the helm. Green technology was all fine and dandy when gas was under $2 and unemployment was under 6% an we all felt warm and fuzzy about saving baby seals and owls. Now we’re feeling the reality of what Green Energy means, high unemployment, skyrocketing fuel and food prices, and a fascist regulatory scheme that wields total and arbitrary power.
Even Democrats I know are tired of Obama, only the far left ideologues and dupes who will fall for his lies again will vote for him.
I haven’t read all of the previous posts, so if this is a duplicate, I apologize.
Shell has been an ardent supporter of “Green” projects, just like BP. I suspect it’s to try to deflect criticism, “Why we’re big supporters.” Now it’s not working. The Greens in power see no need to deliver special favors any more.
We’ve reached the rule of Caesar. Edicts, edicts, and more edicts. We are no longer ruled by law.
We’re in deep trouble.
elbatrop says:
April 26, 2011 at 9:00 pm
Experts say 1/3rd is recoverable huh, cite that since your earlier numbers were easily blown out of the water, then knock a bunch off that due to the reduced energy content to boot. What’s the ROI look like? Pretty crappy isn’t it, and what’s that do to flow rates which you keep ignoring?
Are you talking about the “experts in the white house with their community organizing experience?
Why do you give up on developing resources that the investors and oil companies are willing to spend their stockowners money on? Besides they will buy leases to provide revenue to the Tresury and reduce our massive debt. I don’t get the logic?
I suspect that the Administration and others really know better and are afraid that if the restrictions are lifted there will be a bonaza of production that will decrease government control of our lifestyle.
Why bring up ROI if the Companies are willing to invest? Are you smarter than them? I believe in the free market, not an environmentalist or others from the oil hate religion.
How about the negative ROI for biofuels, ethanol, solar, electric cars, and windmills. Does that bother you that we are wasting billions of these activities. That bothers me!!
Also how about the specific EPA ban on Shell and all the other restrictions such as offshore Pacific (where oil naturally leaks to the surface), offshore atlantic, Off the straits of Florida where Cuba is drilling, ANWR, Arctic, Gulf, etc. How could you possibly know how much oil is there if exploration and development is banned. No reasonable person would make that claim considering the technology developments in the oil/gas business.
Finally most experts in the industry now believe that there will be an abundance of natural gas based on recent discoveries. Major oil companies are buying up the properties. I find it strange that the Administration and the EPA are attempting to
stop this development rather than finding ways to make it safe and clean. Does anyone see a pattern here from the Administration?
The Oil Shale reserves in the USA are around 2 Trillion barrels of technically recoverable oil. There are issues, but the technology is advancing.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oil_shale_reserves
As technology improves Oil shale may indeed become a game changer.
From 2010 through 2012, Obama’s & Boot’s MORONIC drilling moratorium/permitorium will result in a loss of ~267,000 barrels of oil production per day… 292 million barrels of oil lost production. Oil that will be imported rather than domestically produced. A loss of ~$23 billion in total revenue to the oil companies that would have produced that oil… A loss of close to $5 billion in Federal royalty and tax revenue.
The industry-wide tax “subsidies” that Obama endlessly drones on about, amount to a bit more than $4 billion per year and save consumers at least $11 billion per year. Even with those subsidies, the average effective tax rate on US oil & gas income is about 40% – Almost three times the average effective tax rate of multinational corporations like GE.
This single stroke of EPA regulatory malfeasance could cost Shell more than $4 billion in lost investments in leases, seismic data and time.
A pair of papers presented by Shell geoscientists at the recent AAPG convention recounted the paralysis of their exploration program by junk lawsuits and regulatory red tape…
Unlocking the Exploration Potential of the U.S. Beaufort Sea Continental Shelf, Offshore Arctic Alaska
Unlocking the Exploration Potential of the U.S. Chukchi Sea Continental Shelf, Offshore Arctic Alaska
I attended those two presentations… The abstracts don’t convey the frustration that the Shell geoscientists conveyed. According to Shell, the problem is that the permits that they do get from the gov’t are worthless. Every time a permit is issued, environmental activists sue to have the permits revoked and the US gov’t refuses to defend its own permits in court. One Shell geologist that I know said that they are dismantling exploration groups they had assembled to work the Atlantic OCS and other areas because of Obama’s & Boot’s illegal permitorium. They are shifting focus overseas to countries with less political risk.
According to President Obama…
The United States has not even begun to exploit about 60% of its oil & gas potential. While we may very well be on the back side of the decline curve for the areas currently being exploited, we could easily double our daily oil production within a few decades.
Mister President, we can drill our way out of this!
SteveE says:
“The only way to stop the US being dependent on Middle East oil is to use less oil.”
No, that’s only one way, and it’s the worst choice. The U.S. could stop depending on Middle Esat oil if oil companies were permitted access to the enormous store of oil under the continental shelf. But they’re not. We sit idly by as China and Cuba partner to drill for our oil 30 miles off the Florida coast. That is A-OK with the Obama Administration. And when there’s a well blowout, the media will hardly mention it.
Meanwhile, we diddle around with shale oil and tar sands, and the very same manchurians who will not allow drilling are now going after frakking, which is providing enormous new energy reserves.
You don’t have to be a conspiracy theorist to see that they’re deliberately kiling the goose that lays the golden eggs. But if it’s not a conspiracy, I’d like to know why they’re deliberately destroying the greatest prosperity engine in the world.
You could always import all your energy :- http://eureferendum.blogspot.com/2011/04/cashing-in-carbon.html
The Roman Empire became decadent and fell, China became inward looking and favoured the arts and fell behind, The british Empire also. USA? who knows? but the writing in the wall is getting larger chaps. take great care, the spenders are outnumbering the generators.
Smokey says:
April 27, 2011 at 6:42 am
Nice map.
The zone on the West coast is unlikely to contain much in the way of oil so there’s not much point looking there.
The East coast has the posibility of containing some oil, comparable to the quantities found off of the Atlantic margin in Ireland, France and Spain. In other words not a lot.
GOM around Florida is possible I guess, but as much of the trapping is a result of salt movements and reservoired sands from the mississippi I’d imagine you’d have limited success. That’s not to say you won’t find any, but you’re unlikely to find anything close to what the US needs in terms of production to stop it being dependant on the Middle East.
Sorry, but it’s just not there to find.
LearDog says:
April 27, 2011 at 5:00 am
“Oh – but SSam (SSam (April 26, 2011 at 10:46 pm)) – the shale oil is still a solid, and due to the high organic content – its a ‘rubbery’ solid. So even if one CAN frac it, it still needs to be heated up to convert the solid kerogen to a more liquid form (oil).”
Which is why numerous tactics are used to liquefy it. CO2 injection (solvent), steam injection, or firing and cooking it in place etc.
SteveE,
That map doesn’t show the north coast of Alaska, which holds many billions of barrels of oil – with much more waiting to be discovered. But the manchurians have made it illegal to even look for new oil. How stupid/devious is that?
It’s true that the ‘low hanging fruit’ has been produced. But there are enormous oil reserves still available. The problem is government, no more and no less. If exploration and drilling was encouraged, instead of being disallowed, the price of oil would fall drastically, just as it did when President Bush lifted the moratorium in 2008: the cost of oil fell from $147/bbl to $33, and gas was under $1.90 a gallon when the treacherous Obama took office.
Obama has singlehandedly caused the price to rise to well over $100/bbl; the blame is his alone. The following information shows the always-pessimistic government forecasts, and the actual reserves:
OIL RESERVES:
– 1885, U.S. Geological Survey: “Little or no chance for oil in California.”
– 1891, U.S. Geological Survey: “Little or no chance for oil in Kansas and Texas”
– 1914, U.S. Bureau of Mines: “Total future production limit of 5.7 billion barrels of oil, at most a 10-year supply remaining.”
- 1939, Department of the Interior: “Oil reserves in the United States to be exhausted in 13 years.”
– 1951, Department of the Interior, Oil and Gas Division: “Oil reserves in the United States to be exhausted in 13 years.”
Current reserves:
– 1.3 Trillion barrels of ‘proven’ oil reserves exist worldwide (EIA)
- 1.8 to 6 Trillion barrels of oil are estimated in the U.S. Oil-Shale Reserves (DOE)
- 986 Billion barrels of oil are estimated using Coal-to-liquids (CTL) conversion of U.S. Coal Reserves (DOE)
– 173 to 315 Billion proven (1.7-2.5 Trillion potential) barrels of oil are estimated in the Oil Sands of Alberta, Canada (Alberta Department of Energy)
- 100 Billion barrels of heavy oil are estimated in the U.S. (DOE)
– 90 Billion barrels of oil are estimated in the Arctic (USGS)
– 89 Billion barrels of immobile oil are estimated recoverable using CO2 injection in the U.S. (DOE)
– 86 Billion barrels of oil are estimated in the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf (MMS)
– 60 to 80 Billion barrels of oil are estimated in U.S. Tar Sands (DOE)
– 32 Billion barrels of oil are estimated in ANWR, NPRA and the Central North Slope in Alaska (USGS)
- 31.4 Billion barrels of oil are estimated in the East Greenland Rift Basins Province (USGS)
- 7.3 Billion barrels of oil are estimated in the West Greenland–East Canada Province (USGS)
- 4.3 Billion (167 Billion potential) barrels of oil are estimated in the U.S. Bakken shale formation in North Dakota and Montana (USGS)
- 3.65 Billion barrels of oil are estimated in the U.S. Devonian-Mississippian Bakken Formation (USGS)
- 1.6 Billion barrels of oil are estimated in the U.S. Eastern Great Basin Province (USGS)
– 1.3 Billion barrels of oil are estimated in the U.S. Permian Basin Province (USGS)
- 1.1 Billion barrels of oil are estimated in the U.S. Powder River Basin Province (USGS)
- 990 Million barrels of oil are estimated in the U.S. Portion of the Michigan Basin (USGS)
– 393 Million barrels of oil are estimated in the U.S. San Joaquin Basin Province of California (USGS)
- 214 Million barrels of oil are estimated in the U.S. Illinois Basin (USGS)
- 172 Million barrels of oil are estimated in the U.S. Yukon Flats of East-Central Alaska (USGS)
- 131 Million barrels of oil are estimated in the U.S. Southwestern Wyoming Province (USGS)
- 109 Million barrels of oil are estimated in the U.S. Montana Thrust Belt Province (USGS)
– 104 Million barrels of oil are estimated in the U.S. Denver Basin Province (USGS)
– 98.5 Million barrels of oil are estimated in the U.S. Bend Arch-Fort Worth Basin Province (USGS)
- 94 Million barrels of oil are estimated in the U.S. Hanna, Laramie, Shirley Basins Province (USGS)
For Comparison:
- 260 Billion barrels of oil are estimated in Saudi Arabia (EIA)
- 80 Billion barrels of oil are estimated in Venezuela (EIA)
This story makes blood shoot out of my eyes.
Top-down. Bottom-up. Inside-out.
“”””” SSam says:
April 27, 2011 at 7:59 am
LearDog says:
April 27, 2011 at 5:00 am
“Oh – but SSam (SSam (April 26, 2011 at 10:46 pm)) – the shale oil is still a solid, and due to the high organic content – its a ‘rubbery’ solid. So even if one CAN frac it, it still needs to be heated up to convert the solid kerogen to a more liquid form (oil).”
Which is why numerous tactics are used to liquefy it. CO2 injection (solvent), steam injection, or firing and cooking it in place etc. “””””
Well Occidental Petroleum has that “in situ” process, where they simply set fire to some of that shale, and the heat from that liquifies the rest so they can pump it out of the ground; don’t even need to dig the shale up. Of course that rubbery shale “oiul” is a perfact application for free solar energy from the sun. You simply sink long “heat pipes” down into that shale, and then you put a solar mirror system on the top to concentrate sunlight continuously during the day) onto the top of the heat pipe to be transported by the pipe down to the shale. So what if it takes five years for the sun to warm the shale oil rubber up to the melting point; it’s free, and readily available in places that have oil shales.
Sorry, but that’s simply wrong. US gov’t agencies estimate the following volumes of undiscovered oil and gas (Bbl = billion barrels of oil, Tcf = trillion cubic feet of natural gas) under Federal lands…
Total = 116.4 billion barrels of oil and 650.9 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.
The phrase “undiscovered technically recoverable oil” is really an oxymoron. Oil that is undiscovered cannot be technically recoverable… But that’s how the gov’t refers to undiscovered oil. 116 billion barrels of “undiscovered technically recoverable oil” is equal to about 16 years worth of current US consumption. However, past history shows us that gov’t agencies always grossly underestimate what the oil industry will find and produce. Alaska’s North Slope has already produced 16 billion barrels of petroleum liquids. Currently developed areas will ultimately produce a total of about 30 billion barrels. The government’s original forecast for the North Slope’s total production was 10 billion barrels. The current USGS estimate for undiscovered oil in the Bakken play of Montana & North Dakota is 25 times larger than the same agency’s 1995 estimate. In 1987, the MMS undiscovered resource estimate for the Gulf of Mexico was 9 billion barrels. Today it is 45 billion barrels. ( SOURCE pp 27-28)
Based on the government’s track record, the 116 billion barrels of undiscovered oil under Federal lands is more likely to be 680 billion barrels. That’s close to 100 years worth of current US consumption – And that’s just the undiscovered oil under Federal mineral leases.
When you factor in unconventional oil plays, the numbers become staggering. The USGS estimates that the Green River formation holds “more than 8 trillion barrels of shale oil in place, with an estimated 1.8 trillion barrels marginally attractive to production. SOURCE . A 10% recovery factor (like the Bakken) would yield 180 billion barrels of oil (~25 years worth of US consumption).
The Federal government is blocking exploration in areas that could easily contain over 140 years of US oil consumption.
And I haven’t even scratched the surface.