Oil Companies Racing for New Oil
Written by Paul Zannucci on 1:55 PM
Unfortunately for Democrats, the image of lethargic, fat cat oil companies sitting on millions of acres while smoking stogies and laughing at the consumer does not quite wash with the latest news stories.
From the Baltimore Sun, we have a story about companies vying to get oil from a small section of the Florida panhandle where OCS drilling is currently allowed. Four companies have snatched up leases, but the difficulties are great. According to Stuart Strive, an executive with one of the companies, "Three-dimensional mapping of the ocean floor, which must happen before any drilling, could take up to two years...If a promising site is found, engineers must drill up to three miles below the ocean surface to extract the oil or natural gas. And it will take years before the company begins producing anything at the site - and there is no guarantee of success. A company can have as much as $4 billion invested and a wait of up to five years before seeing any return on the investment."
That's a lot of time and money for companies to invest, but with oil prices high, they are especially willing to go for it now, even if it takes up to five years to get the oil to market and see any cash spilling forth from those platforms (notice how the oil executive is under the false impression that it only takes up to 5 years and not the 7 to 12 you keep hearing from liberal oil opponents).
And from the Wall Street Journal, we have the story of McMoRan Exploration Co, which is returning to a long abandoned area which Exxon abandoned in 2006 after drilling to 30,000 feet without hitting pay dirt. It's a reach, but people are beginning to look even in the unlikeliest of places--given that the likely places are off limits.
If only Bush and these oil companies would get off their hindquarters and do some work we could be out of this mess that the Democrats and the environmental lobbyists have nothing to do with.
From the Baltimore Sun, we have a story about companies vying to get oil from a small section of the Florida panhandle where OCS drilling is currently allowed. Four companies have snatched up leases, but the difficulties are great. According to Stuart Strive, an executive with one of the companies, "Three-dimensional mapping of the ocean floor, which must happen before any drilling, could take up to two years...If a promising site is found, engineers must drill up to three miles below the ocean surface to extract the oil or natural gas. And it will take years before the company begins producing anything at the site - and there is no guarantee of success. A company can have as much as $4 billion invested and a wait of up to five years before seeing any return on the investment."
That's a lot of time and money for companies to invest, but with oil prices high, they are especially willing to go for it now, even if it takes up to five years to get the oil to market and see any cash spilling forth from those platforms (notice how the oil executive is under the false impression that it only takes up to 5 years and not the 7 to 12 you keep hearing from liberal oil opponents).
And from the Wall Street Journal, we have the story of McMoRan Exploration Co, which is returning to a long abandoned area which Exxon abandoned in 2006 after drilling to 30,000 feet without hitting pay dirt. It's a reach, but people are beginning to look even in the unlikeliest of places--given that the likely places are off limits.
If only Bush and these oil companies would get off their hindquarters and do some work we could be out of this mess that the Democrats and the environmental lobbyists have nothing to do with.
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