Oil Drilling News

GULF OIL DISASTER

NRDC Video and Action Alert

http://www.facebook.com/nrdc.org?v=app_11007063052

"Urge your senators to pass much-needed legislation to reform offshore oil and gas drilling, and to protect and restore our nation's oceans."

CALIFORNIA

Venoco drops Ellwood drilling plans

http://pacbiztimes.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1992&Itemid=1

"Venoco has dropped its plans to expand oil drilling from its Platform Holly off the coast of Santa Barbara County. [...] Until its recent withdrawal, it was looking to drill as many as 40 new wells in the Ellwood field, which is a few miles offshore of the UC Santa Barbara campus and the Goleta area known as Ellwood."

VIRGINIA

Local officials push for offshore drilling reform...

http://weblogs.dailypress.com/news/science/dead_rise/2010/11/local_officials_push_for_offsh.html

"Introduced in July by Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nevada, the Clean Energy Jobs and Oil Company Accountability Act of 2010 would, among other things, eliminate a $75 million liability cap that energy companies face if they cause extensive damage to coastal areas. 

Energy companies — such as BP, which has committed $20 billion in reparations for the Gulf of Mexico oil spill — would be required to make communities whole for damage they cause. 

The act would give more oversight to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which traditionally plays second or third fiddle to the Department of the Interior and other federal agencies when it comes to offshore drilling. 

It also includes programs that would promote energy efficiency and alternative energy vehicles."

ALTERNATIVES TO OIL

Bill to Convert Trucks to Use Natural Gas May Pass This Year, Pickens Says

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-11-17/u-s-natural-gas-vehicle-law-may-pass-congress-this-year-pickens-says.html

"Boone Pickens, founder and chairman of Dallas-based BP Capital LLC, said a bill to help convert the U.S. trucking fleets to natural gas may pass Congress by year- end with bipartisan support. 

Pickens wants buses and trucks that run on natural gas to replace the diesel and gasoline engines that contribute to global warming and increase U.S. oil imports that cost the country as much as $1 billion a day. 

The measure, which Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid

 introduced in September, has support from Republicans and Democrats and may be the first major legislation during the Obama administration to win support from both parties, Pickens said."