Oil Drilling News

GULF OIL DISASTER

Confusion May Follow Drilling Ban's End, Bromwich Says

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-09-14/drilling-ban-likely-to-be-followed-by-confusion-regulator-says.html

Oil industry: Nix higher offshore inspection fees

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jQaa8-9NVOin_QVS7l-LRjUUSMygD9I7TT200

What a surprise!  Big Oil doesn't want to pay any higher fees. In related news, Chevron reported a net income of $5.4 billion in second quarter 2010 and Exxon-Mobil reported $7.6 billion in profits.

New post-oil spill rules slow Gulf drilling pace in shallow water

http://blog.al.com/live/2010/09/new_post-oil_spill_rules_slow.html

"We will not approve applications until and unless they fully comply with the new requirements," Michael Bromwich, director of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement, said Monday in a statement. "That will not make everyone happy, but it is the right way to proceed."

The great Gulf offshore drilling jobs hoax

http://www.southernstudies.org/2010/09/the-gulf-offshore-drilling-jobs-hoax.html

"But there was one problem: The claims weren't true. The economic disaster never materialized."

Offshore-Drilling Regulations Snagged by Climate Fight

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704285104575492301373764356.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

WEST COAST

Senate Interior Dept. spending bill to block West Coast drilling

http://thehill.com/blogs/e2-wire/677-e2-wire/118651-feinstein-senate-interior-spending-bill-block-west-coast-drilling

"The Interior Department spending bill slated for markup Thursday in the Senate Appropriations Committee will re-impose oil-and-gas drilling bans off the Pacific Coast that lapsed after decades in 2008, Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) said."

ALASKA

Alaska Sues to Lift Moratorium on Offshore Oil Drilling

http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/sep2010/2010-09-13-091.html

LOUISIANA

BP wants surf to clean beaches in Grand Isle

http://www.dailycomet.com/article/20100913/FEATURES12/100919758/1292?Title=BP-wants-surf-to-clean-beaches

"BP has filed a request to complete cleanup of Grand Isle's oiled beach with a controversial technique called "surf washing." 

Environmental groups are protesting the permit because they say the method, which pushes oil-stained sands back into the surf to help break down oil, could reintroduce pollutants into the water. [...]

The EPA says it's concerned that approving this permit would clear the way for widely using the technique to clean oiled beaches. The cumulative effect on the environment of using such techniques is unknown.

"The application is inadequate," Rota said. "And there's potential for oil to be in the sand, and the potential for more oil to wash ashore. We don't want the oil to be reintroduced into the environment or the ocean.""

EPA: Louisiana's sand berms not stopping much oil

http://www.dailycomet.com/article/20100910/FEATURES12/100919996/1292?Title=EPA-Louisiana-s-sand-berms-not-stopping-much-oil

Aging oilfield infrastructure poses risks

http://www.dailycomet.com/article/20100912/ARTICLES/100919824/1212?Title=Aging-oilfield-infrastructure-poses-risks&tc=ar