Most wells everywhere are capped. It is because they will produce so little oil each that they could never make enough money to pay for the pumps and pipelines to hook them up.
So9
Well, he finally got back to me on this subject today...
Dear Mrs. Graham:
Thank you for contacting me to voice your concerns regarding the Law of the Sea treaty. I appreciate the time you have taken to share your views with me, and I welcome the opportunity to respond.
As you probably know, the U.N. Convention on the Law of
the Sea creates a legal regime governing activities on, over, and under the world's oceans. It establishes a 12-mile territorial zone along the coast of each nation, but protects freedoms of the high seas by providing for innocent passage through the territorial sea.
The Convention also provides that each coastal State may claim a 200-mile Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), in which it has "sovereign rights" over the exploration, conservation,
management, and exploitation of the natural resources.
Proponents, including the U.S. Navy, assert that the
Convention advances U.S. national security by preserving the rights of navigation and overflight across the world's oceans, on which our military relies to protect U.S. interests around the world.
Additionally, the treaty allows member states to petition the right to lay claim to resources on their continental shelves beyond 200 miles based on geodetic charting. Russia, as a member of the convention, has already taken steps to claim portions of the Arctic shelf. Because the U.S. is not a signatory, it does not have this
right, and could lose important access to the Arctic shelf beyond the U.S. EEZ, important for development of the oil and gas resources.
I am aware of concerns that accession by the United States
to any international regime could have serious ramifications on our sovereignty and our ability to protect our national interests. Normally I would give decisive weight to any reasonable concerns that a treaty might infringe on American sovereignty. But, as Chairman of the Seapower Subcommittee of the Armed Services Committee, I cannot ignore the Navy's strong opinion that the rights it would gain under the Treaty are necessary to its mission of
projecting American power and protecting American interests
around the world.
There is little chance the Treaty will come to a vote in the Senate this year, and amendments may soon be adopted by other signatories that materially change the status of this issue. Under the circumstances, I will wait until closer to the vote to make a decision. It is quite possible that new provisions, which are likely to be anti-American, will cause the administration to reconsider its decision to submit the Treaty to the Senate.
Again, thank you for contacting me. I will keep your
concerns in mind. If you would like to continue this discussion, please don't hesitate to call or write.
Thank you for your email. To contact me on this or any other subject, please go to http://talent.senate.gov/contact/index.html
Sincerely,
Senator Jim Talent