Posts tagged “deepwater drilling”

Beijing is flexing some more muscle to protect its energy interests in the South China Sea.

Last week, China began combat-ready patrols in the waters around the potentially resource rich Spratly Islands that both China and Vietnam have disputed claims to. And on Friday, China Daily reported that Beijing may develop a military presence in Sansha – a newly incorporated city located on one of the disputed Paracel Islands that was stood up to administer Chinese authority over the country’s South China Sea territories. (The city was established in response to a recent Vietnamese law that claimed sovereignty over the Paracel and Spratly Islands.)

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In addition to the EPA’s decision to raise the allowed ethanol blends to 15%, there were three other energy-related stories of interest this week. Deep-Water Ban Ends The first was that the Obama administration has lifted the ban on deep-water drilling: Obama ends ban on deep-water oil drilling in Gulf of Mexico As part of the decision, the Obama administration said it would continue with tougher safety requirements designed to prevent a repeat of the April 20 explosion and fire on an offshore oil rig that killed 11 workers. “Operators who play by the rules and clear the higher bar can be allowed to resume” drilling, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said at a telephone news conference Tuesday. “The oil and… Continue»

For those who don’t think U.S. oil companies are spending enough to find new oil: US drilling outlays soar to $226.4 billion in 2007 WASHINGTON, DC, Jan. 5 — US oil and gas drilling expenditures soared to a record $226.4 billion in 2007, more than doubling the previous record of $109.8 billion a year earlier, the American Petroleum Institute said on Jan. 5. API said the Joint Association Survey of Drilling Costs for 2007, the latest year for which figures are available, showed that records also were set in average costs per well and per foot. Average costs per US oil well grew 82% to $4 million in 2007 from $2.2 million, while per foot costs climbed 78% year-to-year to… Continue»

After spending most of my week on Coskata (and actually working at my real job) the energy news has piling up on me. While I still need to clean up some loose ends on Coskata, I also need to clear out some of these other stories. I have an informative guest post on ocean thermal energy conversion (an under-rated energy option, in my opinion), CNN says that expensive oil is here to stay (regular readers will know that this is my mantra as well), Christina Laun gives us 100 tips and tools on how to enjoy a greener career – Number 31 may save your life someday – and Shell has gone ultra-deep with their new Perdido platform. I will… Continue»