1859 First commercial oil well in the United States at Titusville, Pa., struck oil at 69 feet and could produce about 25 barrels a day. 1896/1897 First offshore oil production in California, from a wooden pier over 30 feet of water near Santa Barbara. 1931 Virginia’s first commercial hydrocarbon well struck natural gas in Early Grove field near Bristol in Scott County. 1947 First offshore production rig built out of sight of land, 12 miles off the coast of Louisiana, in water 18 feet deep. 1966 Exploratory drilling started in the 1969 Drillers lost control of well off 1976 Competitive leasing of offshore acreage began. 1981/1982 Shell Oil Co. paid $6.18 million to lease drilling site off Virginia. 1982 Federal Minerals Management Service created to manage offshore oil and 1982 Congress passed moratorium banning exploration and 1984 Moratorium extended to the North Atlantic and parts of July 1984 Drilling began on Shell Well 93-1 Nov. 1984 Shell Well 93-1 was plugged and abandoned as a dry hole at 17,740 feet.
1989 Exxon Valdez tanker spills into Prince William Sound, Alaska. 1990 Presidential order prohibiting leasing on the Outer Continental Shelf except for certain parts of the Gulf of Mexico and Alaska. 1990 $296 million paid by oil companies for leases off 1998 Moratorium on leasing oil drilling sites extended until 2012. 2005 Thunder Horse, the largest floating oil platform in the world, 2005 Virginia Gov. Mark Warner vetoed an attempt to seek exemption from moratorium. Jan. 2006 Minerals Management Service identified Virginia’s July 2008 George W. Bush lifted Sept. 2008 Congress let the drilling Nov. 2008 Federal environmental review began for Virginia’s proposed offshore drilling area. 2011 Scheduled auction of drilling sites off Virginia.
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Where would drilling take place? Would I be able to see offshore platforms from the beach? Then what would I see? When would drilling start? Why is drilling being considered now? How much money would the state get from offshore drilling? How much are we talking about? What will they find? Did you know? |
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SOURCES: Virginia Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy; Minerals Management Service; U.S. Department of Energy; “Energy for the 21st Century: A Comprehensive Guide to Conventional and Alternative Sources” by Roy L. Nersesian; House Document 22; Department of the Interior; Virginia Water Central; White House press release; Shell 93-1 well report; Virginian-Pilot archives; U.S. Department of Transportation; Old Dominion University; Virginia Institute of Marine Science; Associated Press; American Association of Petroleum Geologists; Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution; U.S. Geological Survey; Chevron.com; World Petroleum Council; naturalgas.org; National Research Council; Natural Resources Defense Council; Virginia Minerals journal; The Virginia Energy Plan
CREDITS: Diane Tenant, researcher, writer and voice; Carl Fincke, editor; John Earle, Miranda Mulligan and Brandon Stuck, illustrators; Miranda Mulligan, online designer; Denita Nash and Brian Cleveland, copy editors; Mark Edelen and Miranda Mulligan, online producers.
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drill here, drill now!
the political speech regarding "cap and trade", "global warming", "carbon credits", etc etc, ad nauseum, is the same type of dialog found in "Alice In Wonderland"-- nonsensical language meant to exasperate the observer (Alice = US) into just giving up and letting them have their way-- with all their new taxes and regulations to follow-- it is not an effort to protect the environment as much as it is to grab power and money-- e.g., purely political-- NOT beneficial-- if the politicians were truly set on benefiting mankind, they would get out of the way and let US DRILL HERE, DRILL NOW!
Please tell me
Why are we buying oil from other countries and selling the oil in AK??? Wouldn't it make more sense and be more cost effective to keep the AK oil for our own use. Then we can decide the supply and demand. As far as I'm concerned the other countries can take care of themselves. Ever hear, charity starts at home? Keep our children & seniors warm. Keep jobs for our mom's & dad's. Use AK's oil & let Virginia use wind, lord knows we get enough of it.
Good news
I have no problem with offshore drilling, as long as we NEVER have an oil spill. Hmmm... but in theory, Yes I am glad to see it happen. However, I do expect this to solve America's addiction to oil, mostly because the addiction in inseparable from our addiction to cars! Although I am glad to see this, because I am glad to see jobs and a more diversified local economy. I am also more hopeful to soon see a wind farm off shore! Wind baby, Wind!!!!!!!!!!!!!
My only reservation is
why aren't they drilling off the coast of North Carolina too?
so Richard
If it is not economical for Canadian companies to drill for oil, as you just asserted, then how is it economical for the U.S. to drill for more oil?
UR INSANE am81
These oil rigs have more built in safety features than Carter's got Little Liver pills. Yes, there were oil spills from Katrina but nothing of the magnitude of 30,40 or 42,000,000 barrels spilled in the southern part of the Gulf of Mexico in June 1979. There is vast amounts of oil and gas available in MT ND, SD, UT, AK and WY but the delegates from those states except for AK have said "not in my back yard." Then the govt blocks repeatedly to drill in ANWAR. ANWAR in size to where they want to drill is like a postage stamp sitting on your dining room table and this is the facts from the legislators from AK. Also in a resent website email from an independant oil and geological survey I get, we receive more oil from Canada than we do from Saudia Arabia, Iraq and the other Middle East countries combined. In this email Canada has stopped drilling because the price of oil has fallen and they will start again when the oil per barrel get up over $50 or more. The old adage, "Supply and Demand". When demand increases for more oil with a higher price, then Supply will be provided. Not before.
Drilling in the USA!
Drilling here would be a large source of good jobs and it would be valuable in reducing the dependence on Oil bought from foreign governments that want us dead!
It would also be Pro-USA.
Watch the people that try to block the use of our own vast resources Nation wide to see who is Pro-USA or not.
Diversified Energy Portfolio
I have no problem with LIMITED offshore drilling. "We can Drill here and Drill now", but what good is it going to do, if the company that drills sends all the product to countries outside the United States. Remember what happened with the Alaska pipeline. Everyone was saying how it was going to be a tremendous benefit to the United States and now 92% of that oil in the pipeline is sold to other countries. If you can get the exploration company to guarantee in writing that their found product will only be used in the United States, then I'm fine with it. But if you don't, it's a waste of time. Offshore Wind Energy is a better bet, and will be more immediately advantageous to Hampton Roads. It is also less damaging to our waterways. With LIMITED offshore drilling and offshore wind energy, Virginia could possibly be in a unique energy producing position. Hopefully then the state get can reduce our real estate taxes and let us keep more of our money.
Moose
That is not true at all. There were many spills during/after Hurricane Katrina. That is a nice lie though. Who told it to you? In fact, there were 124 reported spills from offshore facilities. But then again, who can trust the U.S. Mineral Management Service or the U.S. Coast Guard?
And for those who think that we can drill our way out of this problem, I have some land off the coast of VA Beach to sell you. Remember, one definition of insanity is performing the same action over and over again while expecting different results...
Well put MartyC.
Smart and well said post. For those that have concerns of possible oil spills. There were hundred of oil rigs destroyed or damaged in the gulf during hurricane Katrina. Yet, not one oil spill! This is thanks to the advancement of technology. Drilling off our coast would bring thousands of jobs to our state, not just on the rigs but on shore in both direct industry related jobs and support jobs. Drilling in our own country keeps the dollars in our country. Drilling in our country, means we are no longer sending our money to our enemies. It's time to "drill here, drill now".
We must explore NOW
VPL great on line graphics! Americans can no longer be held hostage. We have a VAST deposit off the coast as well as in middle America. We can no longer take a back seat. When oil was over $4 a gallon, everyone said drill Now. However, when the price per gallon came down, they quickly forgot. Do NOT forget, as it will come back to bite us in the rear and we will be ill prepared. Oil, natural gas will only compliment all of our other energy projects. DO IT NOW !! Yes, we can sustain our own needs!
We've been wringing our hands and whining for 35 years
that we need to "reduce our dependence on foreign oil." But, it's become a hollow, meaningless mantra as virtually every attempt to extract our own oil has been stymied by one excuse after another. It's time to stop the obstructionism thinking and do it! These "alternative energy" dreams, while perhaps feasible and practical, are so far into the future with respect to producing meaningful energy quantities that they need to get out of the way of drilling NOW!
fine as long as the oil
fine as long as the oil companies get not one dime of federal or state money or 'incentives'. let them spend their own record profits if they want to drill.
Good Jobs for stressed watermen
One of the ancillary benefits of offshore oil developments would be a number of good jobs made available to those with experience operating small to medium sized boats.
In Louisiana, many, if not most, of the commercial fishermen alternate weeks operating boats, or other related jobs, for the drilling and production companies with their fishing operations, allowing families to remain in the commercial fishing business while providing their families with more reliable incomes and affordable healthcare insurance.
These are quality jobs that fit well with the experience and abilities that watermen already have and would become available at a time when their commercial fishing operations are experiencing hard times.
We Must
I couldn't say it any better than martyC. The U.S. has the technology to extract this resource in an environmentally responsible manner and our nation’s economic security depends on it. We must!
I say Drill Here & Drill Now!
We must consider the geo-political cost of defending the Oil that is now produced in the ME and the petro-dollars that fund terrosim. From MMS website: "These revenues—the amount of which is second only to that collected by the Internal Revenue Service —provide funding for parks, recreation areas, schools and highways, requiring integrated solutions for oil and gas management systems." MMS needs to raise the Federal revenues that it charges to the Oil Companies to help pay down the Nation's debt.
Drilling could increse our oil exports and raise our GDP. I believe that we should also invest in alternative energy solutions so we're not so reliant on just one type of energy source.
Congress must pass a bill that allows VA to collect drilling revenue to aid in the State budget. Some of these funds should be set aside to help clean-up the Chesapeake Bay. The environmental impact of drilling would be minimal with best available technology and would out weigh the cost of not drilling at this time.