What is the point of exploration if no drilling or extraction ever comes of it?
Surprising little fact: There are pockets of oil in some of the geosynclines between the various mountain ranges in Nevada, which, though relatively small as oil fields go, are intensely productive on a per-acre basis. Because of the frequent seismic activity in the state, these pockets are sometimes very fragmentated, but the sheer wealth of a discovered pocket may make recovery highly profitable on the short-term.
Obama approved 5 years of environmental studies. So we have to assume the firms doing the studies are Obama bundlers.