Two-thirds of oil and gas leases in Gulf inactive

Associated Press ^ | 03/29/2011 | Julie Pace

[safetysign]

An Interior Department report to be released Tuesday says more than two-thirds of offshore oil and gas leases in the Gulf of Mexico are sitting idle.

According to the report, obtained by The Associated Press, those inactive swaths of the Gulf could potentially hold more than 11 billion barrels of oil and 50 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. The report also shows that 45 percent of all onshore oil and gas leases are inactive.

[Lorianne]

Most of them are deep water? That doesn’t seem right.

I guess I’ll go digging for myself

[Black Agnes]

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/search?m=all;o=time;q=quick;s=drilling

[2harddrive]

Yes. I am in the oil and gas INDUSTRY! The so-called “moratorium” was lifted, BUT THEY STILL ARE NOT ISSUING DRILLING PERMITS! The OFFSHORE BAN lives on. Now we have a “Permitatorium”!

[WOBBLY BOB]

Noble rig leaves U.S. Gulf for Brazil (from early March)

Last week, the Interior Department approved the first deep-water drilling permit since a five-month moratorium on the practice was lifted in October. But the oil and gas industry says the process must move faster or more rigs will leave, jobs will be lost and U.S. offshore oil production will decline.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2683712/posts

[Drill Thrawl]

There is a reason why the report and the story do not give any details. The purpose is to make Big Oil look lazy and greedy. If you were told how many of those leases are inaccessible, or how many are economically unfeesable then you would know why they are inactive. But it is better that you think ill of the oil companies and you would do well to remember that 0 and the EmoRats are your saviours.

Now shut up, get back to work and pay your taxes serf!

[Drill Thrawl]

But the oil and gas industry says the process must move faster or more rigs will leave, jobs will be lost and U.S. offshore oil production will decline.

That is the goal!

[Lorianne]

Seems to me the vagueness is being used here at FR to promote the “Obama is stopping all drilling” meme.

I’m sure the vagueness is being used elsewhere to promote the Big Oil is lazy and greedy” meme.

I don’t see much evidence of either one

[HollyB]

But you are aware that bans have been put in place. So, 1 + 1=. 2

[HollyB]

Or we can just give the rights over to Brazil instead...after all soros has big stakes in the Brazilian co that will be drilling in OUR gulf.

[Lorianne]

Are the bans related to the ‘inactive’ leases in the story?

No one will answer this, and the story craftily doesn’t say either.

That says a lot to me.

[topher]

I would argue this should be "breaking news" since Obama is claiming we need to reduce oil/gas imports by 10%...

But I guess we have an Idiot-In-Chief in the White House...