Free Republic

Has this been a trying decade for the average American, or what? It's bad enough that we've have had to cope with stagnant wages and tax increases at just about every level. But in the months ahead, we may have to deal with yet another nightmare: surging gasoline prices. Factors are lining up that could end up pushing gas prices back over $4 per gallon sometime next year. If you're already exasperated about prices at the pump, you're not the only one. Gasoline demand in 2009 has been comparatively low -- take 7.6 million Americans out of the workforce through...

The oil platforms provide an unusual artificial reef for advanced divers.

U.S. consumers turned decidedly more pessimistic in October, according to a report released Tuesday, with households increasingly worried about job prospects. The Conference Board, a private research group, said its monthly Consumer Confidence Index fell to 47.7 this month, from a revised 53.4 in September, which was originally reported as 53.1. The current month's reading was well below economists' projections of 53.2, according to a survey conducted by Dow Jones Newswires. The downturn in consumer confidence at this stage of the recovery is to be expected, as it has occurred in previous recoveries (please see chart below), and does not...

Ecology: The administration creates the mother of all protected habitats for a species whose numbers have increased since Al Gore's "An Inconvenient Truth." It's our hopes for energy independence that are drowning. When filmmaker Phelim McAleer, whose documentary "Not Evil Just Wrong" takes apart the myths of global warming, got to ask Gore a question at the annual conference of the Society of Environmental Journalists, McAleer brought up the nine critical errors in Gore's film "An Inconvenient Truth." A British court two years ago listed them and said they must be righted before the film could be shown in schools...

HA NOI — Three Vietnamese banks will jointly provide a loan of up to US$51 million to the PetroVietnam Exploration and Production Corporation (PVEP) to exploit oil and gas in the Ca Ngu Vang (Gold Tuna) oilfield. Under a credit agreement signed in Ha Noi on Thursday with the Viet Nam International Commercial Joint Stock Bank (VIB), Asia Commercial Joint Stock Bank (ACB) and the Sai Gon-Ha Noi Commercial Joint Stock Bank (SHB), the PVEP would use the five-year loan to pay for the development and exploitation of oil and gas at the oilfield, located southeast of Viet Nam’s continental...

Politics: Move over, John McCain and Olympia Snowe. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina is fast becoming the Democrats' favorite Republican as he partners with John Kerry to push cap-and-trade through the Senate. Earlier this year, eight Republican congressmen made it possible for Waxman-Markey, the 1,400-page job- and economy-killing cap-and-trade legislation, to barely pass the House of Representatives. At the time it seemed dead on arrival in the Senate if it was brought up there this year. Once again, as with their medical plan, the Democrats seek to better the odds by putting a GOP hood ornament on a Democratic clunker....

Oil enters the marine environment from human activity and natural seeps. A National Academy of Science study recently estimated that about 47 percent of the oil entering the marine environment is a result of natural seepage from subsurface reservoirs. The Gulf of Mexico is an area where such natural seepage occurs at a very high rate. Of the 200,000 metric tons of oil seepage that is thought to occur each year, about 150,000 metric tons escapes from the floor of the Gulf of Mexico.

Crude-oil futures rose Monday for an eighth straight session, ending at a new one-year high near $80 a barrel as a weaker dollar and rising U.S. stocks stirred more bullish sentiment among energy traders. Crude for November delivery gained $1.08, or 1.4%, to $79.61 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange,

Since taking office as the President of the United States, President Obama has encountered crisis after crisis. His next major crisis will be oil prices. Read full article... http://newsflavor.com/politics/international-relations/next-major-obama-crisis/

Environment: With much of the world still feeling the sting from last year's oil shock, a group of federal scientists is encouraging Washington to limit offshore drilling. Its counsel would best be ignored. Citing harmful effects on marine life and oil spills in the Arctic, scientists from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration are asking the Interior Department to "drastically reduce plans to open the coast to offshore oil and gas drilling," the Los Angeles Times is reporting. Their concerns are justified. Marine life is affected by offshore oil production, and spills do happen. The issue is how and to...

Oil prices rose above $70 a barrel Thursday in Asia amid a weakening U.S. dollar and mixed crude inventory data. Benchmark crude for November delivery was up 62 cents at $70.19 by midday Singapore time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract lost $1.31 to settle at $69.57 on Wednesday. A slide in the U.S. dollar has helped bolster oil prices, which are traded in the American currency. The euro rose to $1.4758 on Thursday from $1.4687 the previous day, and the dollar slipped to 88.30 yen from 88.60. Investors were also mulling mixed signals in...

Two days ago, British newspaper The Independent reported that a secret cabal of oil-producing Arab states, Russia, and China had conspired to dump the dollar for oil trading, a move which would have seriously weakened our currency and influence abroad. Many publications picked up on this report, written by the notoriously unreliable Robert Fisk, and a round of denials promptly appeared from the named states. Left unexplained by Fisk and the Independent was how these same states, with massive holdings in the dollar (especially China), would benefit in the short or long term by attacking it. However, it once again...

With its economy in the worst shape in decades, Florida has few places to turn. This probably means that the state will have to consider...

On Thursday, Americans will mark the first anniversary of perhaps the most historic change in our nation's energy policy — a change supported by the vast majority of the American people — that came in the form of the Oct. 1, 2008, retirement of the congressional embargo on offshore energy exploration and production. This oil embargo, first imposed by Congress in 1981 as a rider on the Interior Department appropriations bill, was the official policy of the United States for nearly three decades, even as oil imports soared. Many Americans will never forget the summer of 2008: $4 gasoline, crude...

Energy: An amazing number of oil finds have been made this year, including the biggest in California in 35 years. If the world is running out of oil, why do we keep finding more of it? The mantra of the anti-drilling crowd has been that oil companies like to sit on their leases and the oil in the ground, hoping to drive up the price. They should use the leases they have or lose them, these critics say. They also like to add that the world is running out of oil so it doesn't matter anyway. Occidental Petroleum hasn't been...

Energy: An amazing number of oil finds have been made this year, including the biggest in California in 35 years. If the world is running out of oil, why do we keep finding more of it? The mantra of the anti-drilling crowd has been that oil companies like to sit on their leases and the oil in the ground, hoping to drive up the price. They should use the leases they have or lose them, these critics say. They also like to add that the world is running out of oil so it doesn't matter anyway. Occidental Petroleum hasn't been...

Beachgoers play near Galveston, Texas, with an oil rig on the horizon. An oil company wants to drill off Florida’s coast. Oil drilling off Florida's coast means jobs and money, proponents say; questions remain By Craig Pittman, Times staff writer In Print: Friday, September 18, 2009 They appeared in the spring, a secretive group trying to upend Florida's longtime ban on offshore drilling by promising millions of dollars and hundreds of jobs.<snip>But rigs could go up anywhere else, he said. That would leave Citrus, Hernando and Pasco counties open, as well as more tourism-dependent Sarasota and Collier counties and...

Energy Policy: Ignoring peak-oil Cassandras, BP has made another giant oil find in the Gulf of Mexico. We're not running out of oil. Our government just doesn't want us to look for it.The world is running out of oil and good riddance. That's the environmentalists' mantra. But since the first well was drilled near Titusville, Pa., 150 years ago, the prophecy has gone unfulfilled. Trouble is, those darn greedy oil companies keep finding the stuff. Oil has been produced in the Gulf of Mexico since the first well was drilled by Kerr-McGee Corp. in 1947. Some of the wells are...

BP said in a statement on Wednesday that it had made the find at its Tiber Prospect in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico. The well was drilled in Keathley Canyon block 102. Further appraisal will be required to ascertain the volumes of oil present, BP said, but a spokesman said the find could be bigger than its Kaskida discovery which has over 3 billion barrels of oil in place. The find highlights the potential in the Gulf of Mexico and bodes well for other exploration in the area, including at Royal Dutch Shell Plc's (LSE:RDSA.L - News) Great White field,...

Last month there was much criticism over the fact that President Obama agreed to give Brazilian Owned Oil Company Petrobras up to $10 Billion Dollars to look for Oil off the Brazil Coast. This was especially disturbing when you consider that they Administration objects to the US Drilling off its own coast, which will work toward keeping the price of oil low and help wean us off foreign oil. Why would the POTUS pay for a foreign country to drill for oil but object to his own country taking advantage of his own country's resources? Payback. Last week Hot Air...

Virginia House Speaker William Howell on Thursday urged the Obama administration to open a stretch of ocean off the state's coast to oil and gas drilling by 2011. Howell -- with other Virginia officials -- wants to lease exploration rights for 2.9 million offshore acres. Environmental groups oppose the move. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar earlier this year put at least a six-month delay on a Bush administration proposal to allow energy exploration in new areas off the U.S. coast. "Developing these resources would create thousands of new jobs in our commonwealth, arriving at the right time to assist in lifting...

President Obama has opposed any expanded oil drilling off American shores largely on environmental grounds, turning a deaf ear to conservative cries of "Drill, Baby, Drill." But now Obama may start hearing cries of "foul" after the U.S. Export-Import Bank promised Petrobras, Brazil's state-owned oil company, $2 billion in loan guarantees to help finance lucrative drilling off the shores of Rio De Janeiro. Some see a contradiction in an executive branch agency, independent but with board members appointed by the president, facilitating abroad the very kind of energy exploration Obama opposes domestically.

Major new offshore drilling for oil and natural gas in the Gulf of Mexico will soon be a reality. The big question is whether Americans will be part of it. Brazil, China, India, Norway, Spain and Russia have all signed agreements with Cuba and the Bahamas to initiate exploration and production in the Gulf of Mexico within the next two years. So the prospect of seeing Russian oil rigs 45 miles off the Florida Keys -- where American oil companies are now forbidden to drill -- is a very real possibility.

And yet Dems block offshore oil production in the U.S. Two pieces of information here. Connect the dots: 1. The Obama Administration is offering billions in loans for oil drilling off the coast of Brazil. 2. George Soros, the Dems top money man has a huge financial stake in the offshore drilling company. Obama Underwrites Offshore DrillingToo bad it's not in U.S. watersWall Street Journal AUGUST 18, 2009 You read that headline correctly. Unfortunately, the Obama Administration is financing oil exploration off Brazil. The U.S. is going to lend billions of dollars to Brazil's state-owned oil company, Petrobras, to finance...

Chuck DeVore discusses the hypocrisy of the Obama administration on offshore drilling http://chuckdevore.com/ - The Obama administration recently lent $2 billion to Brazil to help in their off-shore drilling efforts ignoring the revenue potential here in the US. Chuck DeVore describes the details behind this pathetic decision. VIDEO

Here are the news stories, editorials, and videos that conservatives dugg yesterday, Tuesday, August 18, 2009. Please take a moment to digg these articles at Digg.com, then get back over here!

Sarah Palin keeps hitting... Sarah Palin pummeled Team Obama over the news yesterday that the government will fund Brazilian offshore oil development and research but deny US companies access to oil deposits off our own shores. From her Facebook page, via Free Republic: YOUR TAX DOLLARS HARD AT WORK: FIRST CARS, NOW FOREIGN OIL. Today's Wall Street Journal contains some puzzling news for all Americans who are impacted by high energy prices and who share the goal of moving us toward energy independence. For years, states rich with an abundance of oil and natural gas have been begging Washington, DC...

This should be good news for the Drill Here, Drill Now contingent, right? The Obama administration has committed $2 billion in loans to exploit offshore oil resources in hopes of extracting a major new source of petroleum. Despite the White House pursuit of a cap-and-trade scheme to limit the use of fossil fuels, the new field could help bring lower energy prices, and their support of this exploration of American resources shows their flexibility on energy policy. Wait — did I say American resources? That’s true, but only in the South American sense (via Gateway Pundit): The U.S. is going...

This should be good news for the Drill Here, Drill Now contingent, right? The Obama administration has committed $2 billion in loans to exploit offshore oil resources in hopes of extracting a major new source of petroleum. Despite the White House pursuit of a cap-and-trade scheme to limit the use of fossil fuels, the new field could help bring lower energy prices, and their support of this exploration of American resources shows their flexibility on energy policy. Wait — did I say American resources? That’s true, but only in the South American sense (via Gateway Pundit): The U.S. is going...

This should be good news for the Drill Here, Drill Now contingent, right? The Obama administration has committed $2 billion in loans to exploit offshore oil resources in hopes of extracting a major new source of petroleum. Despite the White House pursuit of a cap-and-trade scheme to limit the use of fossil fuels, the new field could help bring lower energy prices, and their support of this exploration of American resources shows their flexibility on energy policy. Wait — did I say American resources? That’s true, but only in the South American sense (via Gateway Pundit): The U.S. is going...

Reporting from Sacramento -- Although 28 members of the California Assembly supported a measure to allow new oil drilling off the Santa Barbara coast, their votes are nowhere to be found in the official state database. After the measure failed, Assembly leaders expunged the vote altogether, sparing lawmakers running for reelection an official record of their controversial decision. The voting logs made available to the public on the Legislature's website do not indicate who voted for and against the bill on July 24. ... It wasn't the first time the Assembly has done this. The little-known practice of purging votes,...

It is estimated that there are anywhere from 18-95 BILLION Barrels of oil underneath our continental shelf. There are almost 7 TRILLION Barrels of Oil in the shale under the Rocky Mountains (to be fair, with present technology we can only get to around 800 billion barrels of it). Today America Consumes about 20 Million Barrels/day approximately 7.5 million of which we get domestically. My math tells me, using the minimum numbers (18+800 Billion) divided by 20 million, divided by 365 days, the US has an import free Oil reserves of at least 112 YEARS. Drilling would be a true...

The agreement signed last week between Cuba and a Russian oil company to explore waters in the Gulf of Mexico raises a question that seems almost like a joke - if Cuba can explore for oil and gas off the coast of Florida, how come the United States can't?

Energy: As Russian attack submarines patrol our eastern seaboard, Moscow signs a deal to help Castro's Cuba drill for oil off the Florida coast. In Moscow and Havana, the cry is "Drill, Comrade, Drill!"Two Russian nuclear attack submarines have taken up positions along our East Coast in recent days, another sign of renewed assertiveness by the former communist giant. The move comes as Moscow inks a deal with the communist relic of Cuba to drill for oil we refuse to go after. The submarines are of the Akula class, a counterpart to the Los Angeles class attack subs of the...

Throughout the course of American history people have prospered when government expansion and regulatory polices have been kept in check. On the national level during the 20th century this was evident during the administrations of Calvin Coolidge (1923-1929) and Ronald Reagan (1981-1989) — both drastically cut taxes, defended the private sector, curtailed the size and scope of government, and witnessed unprecedented economic booms. Conversely, people have suffered during administrations like Jimmy Carter’s (1977-1981) where taxes and regulations were rampant. In other words, freedom is profitable but progressivism, or “liberalism” as it is known today, is not. And this appears to...

Last week Chuck DeVore did his best to get the California Assembly to vote through the first major offshore drilling efforts in over two decades. After the Senate passed the measure the Assembly voted down the measure and later voted to expunge the record, as if it didn't exist. As Chuck noted: "George Orwell would be proud." Glenn Beck quotes Chuck in this 2 minute report. Glenn Beck on Chuck DeVore and the Orwellian Vote in California

WASHINGTON -- A federal appeals court ruling won't stand in the way of new oil and gas drilling in the Gulf of Mexico. The U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington clarified late Tuesday that its decision earlier this year to block some Bush-era drilling plans was meant to apply only to activity in Alaska, not the Gulf.

Russia is to begin oil exploration in the Gulf of Mexico, after signing a deal with Cuba, says Cuban state media. Russian Deputy Prime Minister Igor Sechin signed four contracts securing exploration rights in Cuba's economic zone in the Gulf. Havana says there may be some 20bn barrels of oil of its coast but the US puts that estimate at five billion. Russia and Cuba have been working to revitalise relations, which cooled after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Russia's Zarubezhneft oil concern will work alongside the Cubapetroleo monopoly in the deep waters of the Gulf. "Every time I...

SAN FRANCISCO -(Dow Jones)- California could allow new oil drilling under a tentative agreement the state's governor and lawmakers reached to plug the state's $26.3 billion budget hole. In a rare agreement with environmental groups, oil producer Plains Exploration & Production Co. (PXP) has proposed promptly expanding oil drilling off the coast of Santa Barbara, then shutting down four oil platforms and two onshore processing facilities in Santa Barbara by 2022. The company also agreed to donate 4,000 acres of land for public use. The company would slant-drill into the state's seafloor from a platform it operates in federal waters....

Sacramento is so desperate to erase the state budget's $26.3 billion shortfall that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and the Democratic Legislature seem poised to end decades of prohibition so that they can tap new revenue from a widely occurring natural resource - one dear to many Californians and known for its unmistakable aroma. That's right, Sacramento is considering a budget that would raise as much as $1.8 billion in royalties over 14 years by allowing new offshore oil drilling off the coast of Santa Barbara. As of my deadline, the outcome is uncertain. The Governator points out that the Tranquillon Ridge...

Radarsat-1 satellite image with detail insets showing oil slicks in Gulf of Mexico following passage of Hurricane Katrina. Image taken on September 2, 2005. Whats In The Photo: Satellite radar image map showing oil apparently leaking from multiple sources, in a cluster of offshore platforms, on September 1, 2005 following Hurricane Katrina. Approximate center of source area 29.421989N/89.500911W (NAD27). Oil slicks are dark patches; platforms are very bright spots. Large bright areas are land.

The American Petroleum Institute has just released the results of its third annual “Energy IQ” survey, and it reflects that Americans’ knowledge about energy issues is lacking. The survey, conducted by Harris Interactive, comes as President Obama and Congress are pursuing aggressive energy and climate policies that threaten the nation’s economy, and which will determine America’s economic competitiveness for years to come. Some high points from the survey: • When asked about the role fossil fuels such as oil, natural gas and coal will play in meeting global energy demand, only 10 percent of respondents answered correctly that fossil fuels...

Anchorage, AK -- The State of Alaska has moved to intervene in a federal court case in which the Native Village of Point Hope seeks to rescind dozens of leases issued by the federal government under an off-shore oil and gas lease sale conducted for federal waters in the Chukchi Sea. Just hours after being sworn into office, Attorney General Dan Sullivan said, “One of my highest priorities as Alaska’s attorney general is to vigilantly safeguard and defend Alaska’s interests, particularly as they relate to economic opportunities for Alaskans and the balance of state and federal rights and responsibilities. This...

Congress is debating a bill that would open up oil and natural gas platforms just ten miles from portions of Florida's Gulf and Atlantic coasts. It's putting pressure on state lawmakers to decide how close is too close to search for new energy sources. As it stands, oil and natural gas exploration is limited to dozens of miles away from Florida's beaches and some in the state worry that allowing access just ten miles away, in Federal waters, puts Florida at risk environmentally without any of the financial windfalls.

There are several studies that prove this. UCSB's study is rather bold right up front in it's findings: Next time you step on a glob of tar on a beach in Santa Barbara County, you can thank the oil companies that it isn't a bigger glob. That's pretty clear, isn't it? There's a study out there from the US Government which has taken note of seepages and compared them with leaks that happen from offshore oil rigs and notes that rigs leak less than the ocean floor does. The Brits have also noticed the positive benefits of offshore riggery, though...

The Gulf of Mexico contains very thick and concentrated gas-hydrate-bearing reservoir rocks which have the potential to produce gas using current technology. Recent drilling by a government and industry consortium confirm that the Gulf of Mexico is the first offshore area in the United States with enough information to identify gas hydrate energy resource targets with potential for gas production. Gas hydrate, a substance comprised of natural gas and water, is thought to exist in great abundance in nature and has the potential to be a significant new energy source to meet future energy needs. However, prior to this expedition,...

SACRAMENTO – Among the proposals in the Capital A austere revised budget Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger unveiled May 14 is collecting $100 million by allowing new oil drilling in state waters off the California coast for the first time in 40 years. Awarding the lease would nullify a January ruling by the three-person State Lands Commission, which regulates drilling in the first three miles off the California coast. The commission rejected the lease sought by the Plains Exploration and Production Company to drill in Tranquillon Ridge, offshore from Vandenberg Air Force Base near Lompoc on a 2 to 1 vote, despite...

It was with more than a just a little amusement that I read the recent article, “A budget cure: Marijuana taxes?” which makes the claim, “In this desperate economy, some argue that legalizing and taxing marijuana could plug multibillion-dollar holes in federal and state coffers.” Potheads have for decades been using every angle they can to gain legalization for their habit, but this is a new one, to me. According to California “medicinal marijuana” retailer, Daniel Stein, “Cannabis is good for the economy. It’s been here the whole time, but it’s had a bad rap the entire time.” There are...

The proliferation of marine life around oil production platforms turned on its head every "environmental expert" opinion of its day. The original plan, mandated by federal environmental "experts" back in the late '40s, was to remove the big, ugly, polluting, environmentally hazardous contraptions as soon as they stopped producing. Fine, said the oil companies. About 15 years ago some wells played out off Louisiana and the oil companies tried to comply. Their ears are still ringing from the clamor fishermen put up. Turns out those platforms are going nowhere, and by popular demand of those with a bigger stake in...

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Gov. Charlie Crist says he is "open minded" about a bill that would let him and the Cabinet OK oil drilling within 10 miles of Florida's Gulf Coast. The moderate Republican governor has built a reputation as an advocate of environmental causes. But Crist said Wednesday the state needs to study allowing more drilling. Crist first softened his opposition to drilling last year, when gas prices rose above $4 a gallon. However, even then Crist said he wouldn't want rigs too close to Florida beaches. A House bill (HB 1219) would repeal the ban on offshore drilling...