The federal government announces the sale of Gulf oil leases
In Tuesday’s State of the Union speech President Barack Obama touted plans to develop more U.S. energy resources. This new domestic energy push by the Obama administration was applauded by both sides of the aisle.
Obama made good on these plans yesterday by announcing that the federal government plans to sell off oil and gas leases on 38 million acres of the Gulf of Mexico seafloor.
The leases are up for sale in June and include the remaining, unclaimed areas off Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama, ranging from as close as 3 miles and up to 230 miles offshore. The Interior Department estimates the leases could yield as much as 1 billion barrels of oil and 4 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.
Making this announcement at a UPS natural-gas refueling facility in Las Vegas, Obama also said he wants to encourage the use of the cleaner-burning fuel as an alternative to gasoline or diesel. In his speech he promoted the completion of a highway corridor for vehicles that run on liquefied natural gas.
“Think about an America where more cars and trucks are running on domestic natural gas than on foreign oil,” Obama said. “Think about an America where our companies are leading the world in developing natural gas technology and creating a generation of new energy jobs, where our natural gas resources are helping make our manufacturers more competitive for decades. We can do this.”
Critics claim that these announcements were made in response to Republican criticism of Obama’s rejection of the Keystone XL, a cross-country oil pipeline that would have delivered Canadian tar sands oil to refineries in Texas.
Personally, I am taking a break from political rhetoric and focusing on the benefits of yesterday’s announcement. The sale of the leases will allow for greater domestic energy production and I am all for America utilizing the abundance of natural gas it has.
What do you think? Are you pleased with the federal government selling these leases?Join the discussion below!
Well, we are in the election season. After stifling those who would like to be able to send Canadian (and North Dakotan) oil to refineries with some open capacity, he approved some lease sales. What about the potential environmental damage from the damaged BP well? This is especially concerning when he spurned Dutch governmental efforts to help from day 3 of the spill. Of course, these Dutch people were not members of any American labor union.
JMS
Its about time. And by saying "about time" I mean 2-3 years behind.
All infavor of expanding domestic or at least secure foreign production. I am less optimistic about Natural Gas as a fuel outside urban areas or for long haul trucks simply because of the lower energy density of natural gas which would drastically limit range.
Yes,America needs to utilize every opportunity to produce and reserve our own natural resources,ie;Oil,Natural Gas,as well as precious metals,to be totally independant from foreign import sources.GOD bless America!
another Obama campaign trick. Yeah he is selling off leases but will the EPA allow drilling? there are already many leases for the Gulf in the hands of oil companpies but they are held back by the EPA from drilling those leases. Just more BS to make OB look good in the eyes of the uninformed.
This is silly, when there are huge oil reserves on the Alaska north coast next to an existing pipeline – where no American will ever see, no roads, no airports, no ports – it is nothing but frozen mud and tundra. The problem? The name….It's part of the "Arctic National Wildlife Refuge" (ANWR) which the extremists use for their fundraising flag.
With the highest safety standards in the world, this is the American oil that should be obtained and we can forget the foreign oil folks.
Even if HE allows the EPA or his Czars to pass on the gulf sites, how many years until oil will flow. All of the infrastructure has been dismantled thanks to his embargo after the BP incident, and if I were in chrge of the oil companies, I would surely wait untial after the election to see if HE means what he says or if it is politicing rhetoric. A slick way to gain onservative votes but so as not to undermine the results for his liberal base, the actual result may never come about..
So much for "all of the above" = yet another Obama campaign lie.
"In President Obama's third State of the Union address, he devoted more time than before to covering energy issues, calling for an all-out, "all-of-the-above" approach to boosting production of every kind of domestic energy, fossil as well as renewable. "
So much for "all of the above" = yet another Obama campaign lie.
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