Drill Now

[ErasOmnius]

Finally, the Big B is going to allow drilling off the coast of the southeast Atlantic coast.

[Andrew]

Who is the "big b"? At first I thought oil company, then I thought Obama since article talks about him.

I don't think that 'more' drilling will solve anything. Reduced consumption would work best (but seems to only increase). Save the oil on US territory for when it is really needed in 50 years.

Also the fact that we seem to have short memories. 2008 when high oil/gas prices, everyone switched to low fuel consumption vehicles, renewable energy projects were planned, home energy audits were given out by governments. Then oil/gas prices dropped and all those plans were dropped.

Now we are back to where we were in 2008. Everyone complaining about oil/gas, and yet nothing good long term will come of it, because the price will drop some and consumers will be happy enough and continue to consume.

Apparently the oil spill in Gulf of Mexico is now forgotten (1 year?) and plans to drill more are here.

Also a big thing about the new drillings: where will it be sold to? Will it be drilled/refined/sold in North America? Or will corporations let the market decide and sell to the highest bidder (developing countries)?

I mean oil is a commodity sold on world markets, so how exactly will drilling on US soil magically solve high US oil prices? By adding more supply? But demand is also increasing (are there any countries that are consuming less oil over time?).

[ErasOmnius]

The Big B is Barack H Obama.

We need to conserve and drill. Everyone needs to get a 40 mpg car or truck, and start taking the bus every other day. Plus, create some jobs drilling off the coasts of those states. If, like Obama plans, the wells are kept below the horizon line, at 125 miles out, then no one in North Carolina and South Carolina will care a bit. There aren't many fish caught there, like there are in the Banks of Maine, NB, & Nova Scotia, so go for it. Maybe some jobs will be created.

Considering what we learned in Japan in March & April, that nuclear power isn't the 'magic bullet', we gotta do something.

I've also got my own opinions about major wasters of energy; but not for today's debate. Night-life cities & sub-cities like Vegas, Times Sq & Club Toronto, etc; as well as the 300+ energy-busting cruise ships that plague the Western Hemisphere, will have to wait for another day.

[Andrew]

Forgot about Barack.

Considering what we learned in Japan in March & April, that nuclear power isn't the 'magic bullet', we gotta do something.

No one thing is the magic bullet. But from what I learned from Japan nuclear emergency was that a 40 year old nuke plant couldn't handle one of the largest earthquakes and tsunamis in 100 years. I think it survived the earthquake ok, but the tsunami destroyed backup generators. If that had been say a large oil refinery (say bunch in New Orleans), it would be just as bad. (so far official death toll is at 1 from nuke plant disaster).

So instead of investing in new nuke technology and new nuke plants, the old nuke plants will be kept open longer than their designed life span. I mean if we could magically shutdown every nuke plant in the world by end of year, what would replace that power source? Oil is getting more expensive as most of the cheap land based oil has been used up. So now we have to get oceanic drilling and oil sands. Renewable is constantly getting more efficient (compare wind turbines in South California put up in early 1980s to what we do today), so hopefully various forms will power lots (wind/solar/tidal).

A mixture of all types of energy (oil, renewable, nuclear) so far works best because if one fails, you got others. I don't agree that nuke should be abandoned. Should close down old nuke plants and replace/consolidate with new plants. We'll still need couple small nuke plants for cancer treatment isotopes even if we figure out energy crisis.

At least electronics (fridges, stoves, tv etc) are using less power. But this only goes so far because back in the day families maybe had 1 tv per house, and now it is 2-3 (also rising global populations).

[ErasOmnius]

Well, the way that the USA consumes massive quantities of energy, I'm glad that The Big O is opening up drilling in the SE US Atlantic. Maybe next he will over-rule our state legislature and let there be Natural Gas drilling on the Michigan side of Lake Huron.

[TheCurtOne]

Hey , it seems to have worked a bit. Gas is down below 4 bucks a gallon here in the States for the first time in a month. I'll give Obama some credit when credit is due to the man.

[Lord J]

We won't see the effects (if any) of local drilling for years, and gas prices almost certainly have nothing to do with any actions of the President. If anything, thanks to his economic policy the US dollar may be increasing in worth, slightly, but I wouldn't count on it.

[ErasOmnius]

I don't see how anything but bad things can happen to The West if the leader of it, the USA, spends $2 Trillion more than it takes in. As far as the effects of coastal drilling, the ban in the Gulf was only in effect for a year, and I'm glad that it lifted. Now Obama has made it possible to drill in the SE areas like NC, SC, and GA.

[Edric O]

Like it or not, oil has started to run out (compared to global demand, that is), and additional drilling can only delay the inevitable.

[ErasOmnius]

We definitely need to curtail our usage, but oil drilling and refinery jobs are low-skilled jobs that pay well, and are unionized, so they are 'good' jobs for the workers. They are able to help their families and lead decent lives.

[Edric O]

Yes, that is true, but they are also doomed jobs. Anyone starting to work in oil drilling or refining today can be sure that they will need to look for a different job in the not-too-distant future.

Drilling may be ok as a temporary solution to create jobs and meet some immediate energy needs, but everyone needs to understand that it is only a temporary solution. So we can't pat ourselves on the back and say "ok, we're drilling now, so everything is going to be fine." No, everything is not going to be fine. We're just buying some more time, that's all. We need to use that time wisely.

[ErasOmnius]

What would you suggest? Property Owners are killing Wind Power from the Atlantic Ocean, and on the Great Lakes, as well. Of the major non-fossil fuel, non-nuclear options, I am not sure that any other type of alternative is commercially viable other than Wind Power.

It's true that drilling for oil is dangerous, but there is a huge reserve finding off the coast of Brazil. If gasoline prices stay high, these fields could last for decades as sources as decent jobs, although from what we learned from the Deepwater Horizon explosion in the Gulf of Mexico, they are fraught with worker risk.

[Andrew]

I think the price of oil went down purely on speculators cashing out. Everyone got to the point of complaining lots, governments even started complaining.

Speculators realized it was not going to stay at those prices for long so sold off some to drop price a bit. Still high (so oil companies can make $$$), but at least not near record breaking high and consumers are happy with high price of gas because at least it is not near record breaking prices.

Clement seeks explanation for high pump prices

Clement has asked the clerk of the industry committee to summon petroleum producers, refiners and distributors to a committee hearing that will be set up once Parliament resumes post-election.

Tony Clement is Canadas Industry minister and asked to bring oil companies to inquiries to explain why high price of oil/gas. Nothing important had really changed to cause prices to go up, so good luck explaining why. Would be similar to when USA gov brings execs to hearings and such but with little results.

So yeah, I doubt Obama had anything to do with prices dropping due to more drilling. It was time to cash out, and so speculators did.

I'm guessing prices will go back up in August/September when a well placed Hurricane is in the Gulf of Mexico.