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Title: Libyan turmoil, $100 per barrel oil fuel Republican drilling push on Capitol Hill
Source:
The Hill
URL Source: http://thehill.com/blogs/e2-wire/67 ... 00-oil-fuels-gop-drilling-push
Published: Feb 26, 2011
Author: Andrew Restuccia and Ben Geman
Post Date: 2011-02-26 15:21:46 by Hondo68
Keywords: offshore drilling policies, a defiant tone, Sen. Lisa Murkowksi (R-Alaska)
Views: 11367
Comments: 15
The Libyan uprising and triple-digit oil prices are reinvigorating GOP-led attacks on White House offshore drilling policies — a collision that will burst into public view next week on Capitol Hill. Republicans will press Interior Secretary Ken Salazar on offshore drilling restrictions when he appears before two committees to defend the Interior Department’s fiscal year 2012 budget plan. It will be Salazar’s first Capitol Hill appearance since uprisings in North Africa and the Middle East began, sending oil prices to their highest levels in more than two years. With gas prices rising, Republicans have seized on the crises to ramp up calls for the Obama administration to begin issuing the first deepwater drilling permits since last year’s BP spill, and to speed up shallow-water permitting. A top Interior Department official said Friday that the agency is “quite close” to resuming issuance of deepwater permits, but it’s unlikely the agency will act aggressively enough on drilling to defuse GOP attacks. Rep. Doc Hastings (R-Wash.) — chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee that will host Salazar Thursday — has scheduled several hearings on offshore drilling in coming weeks. A spokesman told The Hill earlier this week that the Libyan turmoil “will be a strong backdrop” to the sessions. More broadly, Republicans and pro-drilling Democrats are citing the unrest to revive calls for new or wider drilling. Sen. Lisa Murkowksi (R-Alaska) on Thursday cited the Middle East and North Africa turmoil in a speech in which she vowed to “throw some elbows” to win the oil industry wider access to federal lands and waters in Alaska. She is the top Republican on the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, which will hear from Salazar on Wednesday. Obama administration officials say they are working toward a resumption of deepwater permitting. Salazar and his top deputies were in Houston on Friday reviewing enhanced systems the oil industry has developed to rapidly contain runaway undersea wells, a capacity that Interior is making a prerequisite to granting new permits. But Salazar — who is forcing drillers to show compliance with beefed-up safety rules — appeared to strike a defiant tone Friday amid the immense political pressure on the agency. Reuters reported that Salazar “told reporters the situation in Libya was 'not changing at all what we do' and the government felt no pressure to hurry its permitting process.” But Michael Bromwich, the agency’s top drilling regulator, told reporters that he’s “quite confident that we’re getting very close to the point where we can begin issuing deep-water permits,” according to press accounts. Libya is the 17th largest oil-producing country in the world, and the supply disruptions sparked by turmoil there helped send oil surging past $100 per barrel this week. Officials rushed to reassure the market as prices rose. President Obama stressed that the U.S. economy would be able to “ride out” price spikes and top officials with the International Energy Agency said the organization would release oil stockpiles if necessary. Oil prices settled Friday at below $98 per barrel amid reports that Saudi Arabia is boosting output to help offset Libyan production that has been severely disrupted. Oil traded as high as $103 Thursday. The volatility of the Middle East supply was also demonstrated Saturday when gummen attacked Iraq's largest oil refinery, killing a guard and detonating bombs that sparked a fire and caused the refinery, which produces 150,000 barrels per day, to shut down. The attack came after the "Day of Rage" anti-government protests. Democrats and green groups, meanwhile, are pushing back against the calls to speed up drilling. Rep. Ed Markey (D-Mass.), the top Democrat on the Natural Resources Committee, circulated a memo to reporters Friday afternoon aimed at debunking GOP “myths” about drilling. “Global unrest shows that oil is still a global commodity, with supplies still concentrated in the Middle East. Increased drilling in the United States would do nothing to immediately impact prices,” his office states. The Energy Information Administration, the statistical arm of the Energy Department, estimates that opening up large swaths of the country’s waters to drilling will only lower gas prices by only a few cents. One expert said the new oil shocks will test whether the divided Congress can find common ground on energy. “The Middle East unrest portends long-term uncertainty for much of the world’s oil supply,” said Paul Bledsoe, a senior adviser to the Bipartisan Policy Center, a think tank that works on energy policy. “The real question is, can the chronic threat of supply disruptions galvanize bipartisan approaches to improving oil security, as happened in 2007,” he added, pointing to a 2007 energy law approved by a Democratic Congress and signed by President George W. Bush, a measure that included increases in fuel mileage standards and an expansion of the national biofuels mandate. “Chronic anxiety about Middle Eastern oil supplies may turn out to be a test of whether this divided Congress can act in a bipartisan way on anything,” Bledsoe said. He sees potential for a deal on energy legislation that blends priorities of both parties, such as expanded domestic production alongside provisions expanding deployment of electric vehicles and boosting green energy R&D. Poster Comment: Drill USA now!
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#1. To: hondo68 (#0)
The oil found in the USA would still be sold at $100 a barrell. The price of oil is set on a global scale. Libya's oil is not sold to the USA for example so there is no shortage in American oil but the price will still go up.
"Keep Your Goddamn Government Hands Off My Medicare!" - Various Tea Party signs.
If you're burning USA gas in your Yugo, the Canadian stuff you're not buying will go on the world market lowering the price. It's called capitalism, free markets and all.
I recall a re-run of MASH I saw where this uber right winger named Colonel Flagg... The price of oil is not based on supply and demand alone. The current price is based on speculation that future middle eastern oil will be affected by the crisis there. Libya has not had any oil export slow down and Saudi Arabia said it would pump more to make up any difference. So this shows there is no connection to supply or demand but to gambling/speculations which is what commodity futures are.
"Keep Your Goddamn Government Hands Off My Medicare!" - Various Tea Party signs.
We just went over this with OMFGPalin's DRILL BABY DRILL Note we don't hear that or her anymore. Why do you think that is, hondo? ;}
Kindly pointing out to you here, GWson that you are mistaken. Libya is exporting zero today as qaddafi has lost control of all facilites now. And the Saudi's can't pump mout anything extra except heavy sulfur which cannot replace Libya's sweet. $3.40 at your pump by next fuel shipment.
The exports continue regardless of who controls them. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703933404576170280985759772.html? mod=googlenews_wsj Officials of the Arabian Gulf Oil Company, Libya's largest oil producer and the only one based in the country's rebel-controlled eastern territory, said they expect to resume oil shipments later on Sunday when an oil tanker departs from a port in northeastern Libya. It would be the first oil exported from the rebel- held east in over a week.
"Keep Your Goddamn Government Hands Off My Medicare!" - Various Tea Party signs.
Libya has not had any oil export slow down and Saudi Arabia said it would pump more to make up any difference. So this shows there is no connection to supply or demand but to gambling/speculations which is what commodity futures are. The purpose of commodities futures markets originally was to protect the chief suppliers of that commodity from going broke when their commodity either couldn't be produced or there was less demand. Hedging and the sale of derivatives all became part of it.
"http://first-draft-blog.typepad.com/.a/6a00d8341c5ced53ef0148c7a28c4b970c-320wi"
The sour while creating less gasoline helps keep vineyards and other ag crops healthy through the use of products obtained by the cracking of the sulfur and other related compounds. Powdered sulfur is very expensive right now.
"http://first-draft-blog.typepad.com/.a/6a00d8341c5ced53ef0148c7a28c4b970c-320wi"
She's pandering to the watermelons. Do ya love her yet?
I recall a re-run of MASH I saw where this uber right winger named Colonel Flagg... Do you know what the word resume means?
One week's delay from eastern Libya. No delay - yet - from Qadafi's western held region.
"Keep Your Goddamn Government Hands Off My Medicare!" - Various Tea Party signs.
Do you know what the word "not have any" mean?
There is no oil shortage. This is just how capitalism works - speculating that gauges the suckers that is.
"Keep Your Goddamn Government Hands Off My Medicare!" - Various Tea Party signs.
I agree that there is no oil shortage. What would you replace capitalism with?
RERUM NOVARUM: ENCYCLICAL OF POPE LEO XIII ON CAPITAL AND LABOR Which created: Monday, May. 25, 1953 Time Magazine Looking out over devastated Europe at war's end in 1945 the journalists of the world—plain reporters and exalted pundits—considered the future and, to a man, came to the same conclusion: Europe would go left and socialist. The right, dishonored by the Petains and Papens, and by its devotion to 19 century capitalism, was doomed. The center, caught between the stridencies of right & left, and forced to choose, would have to go left. Communists and Socialists had made a name in the undergrounds and concentration camps. And in the end, Socialism, the wave of the future, would triumph, as it had in Scandinavia long before, and in Britain only recently. The experts were wrong. Instead, postwar Europe's dominant force turned out to be Christian Democracy. Today, Christian Democrats govern or share heavily in the governing of every war-torn country of Western Europe; most of their Premiers and all of their foreign ministers (except The Netherlands') are Christian Democrats. All are disciples of European unity, all share an overall philosophy, all—perhaps by political accident—are Roman Catholics. When Italy's De Gasperi, West Germany's Adenauer and France's Bidault sit down to negotiate a treaty or discuss the future, they draw from a common religious inspiration that sees Europe reunited as it was before Europe burst asunder in post- Reformation strife. They share, too, the paradox of having come to power frankly religious men, in a Europe heavily influenced since the Age of Enlightenment by secularistic and often anti-religious political doctrine. In such a scene, the Christian Democrats have learned not to accent their sectarian differences, but to stress what they have in common. What is their credo? Fundamentally, it is the common heritage of Western civilization, a Judeo-Christian heritage with which men of all faiths may agree. Their basic philosophical faith may be generally stated as a belief in 1) the fatherhood of God, 2) the brotherhood of man, 3) the essential dignity of man, and 4) the right of the individual to hold and administer private property, subject to his responsibilities to his fellowmen. Christian Democracy began as a Christian Socialism and gradually moved towards center and right. Originally, its intention was to escape the bleak godlessness of both left and right, while avoiding the charge of church domination, particularly domination by the Vatican. Trying to oppose materialism, while meeting it on its own good ground of material welfare for all, involves difficulties. "The Christian is a citizen of two worlds," says Catholic Philosopher Heinrich Rommen, "the City of God and the City of Man. He is destined for the former, but he must live and work for his salvation in the latter." From a deep and common tap root, the Christian Democrats of Europe branch out in a variety of directions. Read more: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,890558,00.html#ixzz1FCHtkjSF
"Keep Your Goddamn Government Hands Off My Medicare!" - Various Tea Party signs.
#2. To: Godwinson (#1)
The oil found in the USA would still be sold at $100 a barrell
"We (government) need to do a lot less, a lot sooner" ~Ron Paul
Godwinson posted on 2011-02-23 11:47:32 ET
http://libertysflame.com/cgi-bin/readart.cgi?ArtNum=18011&Disp=46#C46
#3. To: hondo68 (#2)
If you're burning USA gas in your Yugo, the Canadian stuff you're not buying will go on the world market lowering the price. It's called capitalism, free markets and all.
#4. To: hondo68 (#0)
#5. To: Godwinson (#3)
Libya has not had any oil export slow down and Saudi Arabia said it would pump more to make up any difference.
#6. To: mcgowanjm (#5)
Libya is exporting zero today as qaddafi has lost control of all facilites now.
#7. To: Godwinson (#3)
The price of oil is not based on supply and demand alone. The current price is based on speculation that future middle eastern oil will be affected by the crisis there.
#8. To: mcgowanjm (#5)
And the Saudi's can't pump mout anything extra except heavy sulfur which cannot replace Libya's sweet.
#9. To: mcgowanjm (#4)
Why do you think that is, hondo? ;}
"We (government) need to do a lot less, a lot sooner" ~Ron Paul
Godwinson posted on 2011-02-23 11:47:32 ET
http://libertysflame.com/cgi-bin/readart.cgi?ArtNum=18011&Disp=46#C46
#10. To: Godwinson (#3)
Libya has not had any oil export slow down
#11. To: A K A Stone (#10)
Do you know what the word resume means?
#12. To: Godwinson (#11)
#13. To: A K A Stone (#12)
#14. To: Godwinson (#13)
There is no oil shortage. This is just how capitalism works - speculating that gauges the suckers that is.
#15. To: A K A Stone (#14)
What would you replace capitalism with?
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