Recently, a 6-month offshore drilling moratorium has been put in place by The Interior Department so that new safety requirements can be implemented. Many in the industry say “The moratorium is arbitrary government interference in the private sector that would wipe out thousands of jobs and millions of dollars of income, compounding the already terrible economic effects that resulted from the spill.” Deepwater oil production will be allowed to continue under close oversight and tighter safety requirements, but consideration of new drilling permits are being suspended.
“The Louisiana Mid-Continent Oil and Gas Association, an industry group that opposes the moratorium, says the suspension of operations on the 33 drilling platforms translates into a loss of $250,000 to $500,000 per day, per rig, or a total of roughly $8.25 million to $16.5 million per day. It says supply boats -- two per rig -- will lose nearly $1 million per day. And it estimates that the moratorium puts at risk 800 to 1,400 jobs per rig that translate into lost wages of $165 million to $330 million per month. The effect of that loss of income for onshore businesses that serve the affected families would magnify the economic damage.”BP will pick up the salaries of laid-off rig workers. (Offshore Drilling Moratorium)
But many engineers who worked with the Interior Department to develop a set of new safety recommendations for deep-water drilling say they think the moratorium could actually undermine safety. They say that shutting down and then restarting the drilling introduces new marginal safety risks. The bigger problem is with the migration of drill rigs from the Gulf of Mexico. The newer rigs are in higher demand, so they will go first and be the last to return, leaving only older equipment to be used once the moratorium is lifted. The crews from the rigs will disperse or move to other industries, leaving less experienced workers. The U.S. uses about 23% of the world’s oil and without deepwater drilling in our own waters, our dependency on foreign oil will increase. (ELA) Transporting oil in tankers has historically accounted for more oil spillage than well blowouts.
Opinions on whether or not the moratorium is necessary are vast. Some people think only high-risk should be the only ones to stop production and others say that 6 months is a relatively short time to shut down production. Either way, it is said that lifting the moratorium before the 6 month time span is unlikely. (Some Experts Call Oil Drilling Moratorium Misguided)
Sources:
http://www.eia.doe.gov/ask/crudeoil_faqs.asp#barrels_consume_year
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=127942449
http://www.politicsdaily.com/2010/06/18/offshore-drilling-moratorium-4-most-pressing-questions/
No comments:
Post a Comment