FNC Judge Rules against 6 Month offshore Moratorium

[HOF44]

I don't know that this is correct. However, I will agree with you on the point of drilling in shallower water.

If the tech to handle a situation at depth like this were available to us it would have been in use right after the spill started. The fact they weren't means they either do not exist or were not available. Until we determine which it was, and why, a deep water drilling halt seems logical to me.

[AsburySkinsFan]

:insane:

Dude, you GOTTA stop watching Glenn Beck.

Where do you think Glenn Beck gets his material from?

[ABQCOWBOY]

If the tech to handle a situation at depth like this were available to us it would have been in use right after the spill started. The fact they weren't means they either do not exist or were not available. Until we determine which it was, and why, a deep water drilling halt seems logical to me.

We have drilled many, many deepwater platforms with no issues. The technology to drill these are proven. We can do it. The technology to deal with an accident, such as this one, may not be there but the drilling process itself is fine. The issues here appear to be the result of "NOT" adhearing to the regulations in place that govern this sort of drilling. BP and our own Government are at fault here, not the technology.

However, as I said previously, all of this can be prevented if we allow drilling closer to shore.

[Lombardi's_kid_brother]

How can anyone support this activist judge!?!?!?

He is making law from the bench.

(Seriously, these federal regulatory cases give me a massive headache. The rulings in them ultimately seem so arbitrary regardless of which side wins. Half the time, it feels like someone flipping a coin).

[boofMcboof]

Forgive me if I'm wrong but it sounds like the judge just wants a little more attention to detail regarding the moratorium. If that many jobs in the region are going to be affected it makes sense to ask for some kind of plan by the administration. Whether it's inspections, review of equipment, paperwork or whatever, the six months should be used wisely.

[AsburySkinsFan]

Some folks won't be happy until there are oil rigs lined up side by side circling the entire Gulf shore.

[AsburySkinsFan]

Forgive me if I'm wrong but it sounds like the judge just wants a little more attention to detail regarding the moratorium. If that many jobs in the region are going to be affected it makes sense to ask for some kind of plan by the administration. Whether it's inspections, review of equipment, paperwork or whatever, the six months should be used wisely.

What's more is that the people who aren't getting work during the moratorium are still going to get paid by BP that was part of the provisions included in Obama's "shakedown" of BP last week.

[HOF44]

The technology to deal with an accident, such as this one, may not be there but the drilling process itself is fine.

My opinion is if you don't have the tech to deal with an accident you should not be drilling the well.

[ABQCOWBOY]

Some folks won't be happy until there are oil rigs lined up side by side circling the entire Gulf shore.

This is probably true. Some folks won't be happy until something like this is the final outcome.

On the other hand, Some folks will not be happy until every single Oil Rig is replaced by a windmill and the Gulf Shore is Encircled by those. However, if this were ever to happen, I'm certain that a certain segmant of folks would not be happy because birds would be getting themselves chopped up into little pieces by these windmills and so, a certain segmant of folks would not be happy until said windmills were removed from the face of the Earth.

It's always going to be something.

[ABQCOWBOY]

My opinion is if you don't have the tech to deal with an accident you should not be drilling the well.

Well, you can say this but the solution is there. Let them drill closer to shore. The industry has been drilling deep for a long time now. Very few issues and I don't disagree that the industry needs to develop better technology with which to deal with this kind of accident but the truth is that in every industry, accidents are going to happen. If this well had been drilled 50 feet shallower, the spill would have been shut off in 3 or 4 days. Had BP not overlooked design and performance limits, this would not have happened. If our own Government would have held their collective feet to the fire on these shortcomings, this would have never happened. You can't simply kill an industry because of this incident. You have to find a middle ground and work from their to solve.

[twa]

What's more is that the people who aren't getting work during the moratorium are still going to get paid by BP that was part of the provisions included in Obama's "shakedown" of BP last week.

100 m ain't gonna last long ,certainly not 6 months(and from all appearances it will be longer than that)

It also does not cover business losses while they dick around

added

It is interesting we supposedly;) do not know what caused it yet BP is castigated daily

[Hubbs]

A thought I had....if we had a major nuclear plant meltdown on US soil that resulted in the loss of life, etc... would it make sense to suspend all nuclear plants in the US from producing energy (or operating) for the next 6 months?

I really don't know if there is a correct answer to that situation. Nor do I think there is one for this situation.

Maybe I'm misunderstanding the situation, but I thought the ban on drilling was, well, a ban on drilling. In other words, existing oil rigs that have tapped reservoirs will keep collecting oil as scheduled. Anyone trying to make a new hole has to wait. Is that not how it works?

(Assuming that is, in fact, how it works, then a better analogy would be a nuclear meltdown prompting the feds to halt all construction of nuclear power plants. The existing ones would keep doing their thing.)

[ABQCOWBOY]

What's more is that the people who aren't getting work during the moratorium are still going to get paid by BP that was part of the provisions included in Obama's "shakedown" of BP last week.

Those folks are also going to pay taxes on those emergency funds. I'd never heard of that before.

[ABQCOWBOY]

100 m ain't gonna last long ,certainly not 6 months(and from all appearances it will be longer than that)

It also does not cover business losses while they dick around

You are correct because it won't be 6 months. It will be forever. Those jobs, once they leave, will never come back. Those rigs will be set up somewhere else in the world and they will not move back.

[HOF44]

Well, you can say this but the solution is there. Let them drill closer to shore. The industry has been drilling deep for a long time now. Very few issues and I don't disagree that the industry needs to develop better technology with which to deal with this kind of accident but the truth is that in every industry, accidents are going to happen.

They do drill in shallow water in the Gulf. They are following the oil, if it's deep they drill deep.

I don't think with the scope of this and the lack of response you can just lump it into "the accidents are going to happen" category and move on. The impact is to great. Until measures are in place to deal with the accidents that are going to happen it should stop.

[Destino]

Surprised a judge listened to experts?

http://www.nola.com/news/t-p/frontpage/index.ssf?/base/news-14/1276064428189870.xml&coll=1

ADVISERS CITED BY SALAZAR SAY DRILLING BAN IS BAD IdEA

Consultants sign letter disavowing six-month ban

Your credibility on this topic is suspect. I'll add "experts" also told us what is currently happening couldn't happen. They also said deep sea drilling was safe.

What did we learn after the fact? That the experts funded by big oil were full of ****. That they had absolutely no plan in place to stop this. That now was a good time to try every idea anyone could come up with only to watch them all fail.

Frankly I think the only responsible course of action is to find out what, if any, regulations failed and which are now needed to prevent this. Until then, no drilling. Then implement them on every off shore drilling platform before they can continue operation. We can't have another of these happen and should it all of you drill baby drill people will be blaming the government for NOT forcing a moratorium.

[HailYeah]

Those folks are also going to pay taxes on those emergency funds. I'd never heard of that before.

Some people would rather receive no compensation at all from BP if it had to be taxed.

[ABQCOWBOY]

They do drill in shallow water in the Gulf. They are following the oil, if it's deep they drill deep.

I don't think with the scope of this and the lack of response you can just lump it into "the accidents are going to happen" category and move on. The impact is to great. Until measures are in place to deal with the accidents that are going to happen it should stop.

I do not think this is correct. There are laws that govern distance platforms can be set up and drilled. Basically, they want these rigs out to sea and out of sight. The oil that is now spilling into the gulf could have been drilled for at a much shallower depth but because of these laws, it was not.

Prohibiting drilling is not the answer. We are far too dependent on that oil and we can not just let those rigs leave. The measure are already there to insure that this does not happen again. The problem is not the drilling. The problem is the willingness of companies like BP and our own Government officials to look the other way. If just one of the parties involved in this mess simply do their job, this doesn't happen. That is where the problem exists.

To me, this is like saying we have to stop building Semi Trucks because XYZ truck had a break failure, and it crashed and killed several people. Never mind that the breaks failed because the quality measures specified were not followed by whomever was assembling the breaks and the QA person was taking to many smoke breaks.

I just think we need to work within the framework of what we have already set down as required and then we have to follow through with our own inspection laws.

[ABQCOWBOY]

Would have been much better if they were just on their own I guess, right? Pull themselves up by their boot straps and such?

Let me ask a question: If Sarah Palin is in office does she shake down BP? Does she impose a temporary ban on drilling? What does she do with this? Pretend its not happening? I'm honestly curious.

Augh....... Have you ever heard of the Federal Government taxing people who are receiving emergency funds on those same emergency funds?

Yeah, you hit the nail on the head. Do me a favor guy, just keep loading the cart, never mind about the horse.

[The Evil Genius]

Well - the DOI defines shallow water drilling as drilling in locations less than 500 feet deep.

And the moratorium was on both shallow water and deep water drilling in the Gulf.

So both do happen.

[HOF44]

I do not think this is correct. There are laws that govern distance platforms can be set up and drilled. Basically, they want these rigs out to sea and out of sight. The oil that is now spilling into the gulf could have been drilled for at a much shallower depth but because of these laws, it was not.

Here is a map of platforms in the gulf. It appears most shallow sites must be used up and they are venturing further offshore. (just my opinion on the density close to shore and the few wells now showing up in deeper water.)

[ABQCOWBOY]

Well - the DOI defines shallow water drilling as drilling in locations less than 500 feet deep.

And the moratorium was on both shallow water and deep water drilling in the Gulf.

So both do happen.

I am not an expert but I think it might be based on distance as opposed to depth. I don't know for certain.

[The Evil Genius]

I am not an expert but I think it might be based on distance as opposed to depth. I don't know for certain.

No, it's depth.

Hate to site it - but I am lazy.

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2010/06/08/interior-department-clarifies-rules-shallow-water-drilling/

The rules, issued Tuesday by the Minerals Management Service, appear aimed at quelling a growing controversy over whether the Obama administration had, in effect, imposed a moratorium on shallow-water drilling, in addition to a six-month ban on drilling in water deeper than 500 feet.

[HailYeah]

Augh....... Have you ever heard of the Federal Government taxing people who are receiving emergency funds on those same emergency funds?

No, I haven't. Must be some government conspiracy then. I've actually heard this line of thinking: the government was purposefully negligent with BP, so that the well could explode, so that it could eff up the gulf, so that they could get money from BP for the victims, so that they could tax it.

[ABQCOWBOY]

No, it's depth.

Hate to site it - but I am lazy.

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2010/06/08/interior-department-clarifies-rules-shallow-water-drilling/

I don't think so. In fact, I think that each state has title to certain distances and it varies according to where you are at. For example, in the Gulf, each state has title to 9.5 miles out to sea. Beyond that, countries have title to a certain distance as well. That often extends even further so depending on which state, you could have different rules apply. Royalties appear to drive much of the market and how oil is drilled and at what depth. For example, the Deep Water Royalty Relief Act signed into law by President Clinton in 1995 created a situation in which Oil Companies were rewarded for drilling deeper and penalized by drilling closer in. Apparently not only distance and depth comes into play but also the size of the reserve and the duration of the lease for the territory being pumped. It's pretty complicated stuff I guess. Lots of different factors coming into play.