Government schedules first lease sale since Gulf spill

[Blaze Diem]

http://www.shreveporttimes.com/article/20110819/NEWS/110819013/1002/news
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The government will offer tens of millions of acres in the western Gulf of Mexico for oil and gas drilling for the first time since last year’s massive oil spill.

The Dec. 14 auction, announced today, is the first since the April 2010 spill, which led to an overhaul of the offshore drilling agency and safety regulations.

The Interior Department said it would charge a minimum of $100 per acre for the right to explore in deeper waters to ensure that tracts are drilled. The previous minimum was $37.50.

The Obama administration has been criticized for being slow to issue drilling permits and expand production after the disaster.

In May, as gas prices spiked, President Barack Obama announced steps to boost production, including leasing new areas in the Gulf.


..."as gas prices spiked, President Barack Obama announced steps to boost production"..and just how much of what is produced from these new Gulf leases goes directly back to the US, thus reducing gas prices. I don't see how leasing in the Gulf has any effect on boosting US production or affecting US gas prices. Isn't most of the oil pumped from the Gulf sent to other countries? Just because the area is close proximity to the US doesn't necessarily mean it belongs to the US. Correct me if I'm not understanding this. How is this a positive thing for the US consumer? Last I heard BP oil is still floating atop the Gulf waters from the last tragic spill.

[Skink]

1. Let's see if anyone turns this down.

Taxes usually get in the way of these deals.

[glowing]

2. Hmm, let's see, $80- $120 a barrel and only $100/ acre to lease?

We should also insist on sharing a portion of the revenue.

My mom and aunt inherited land from my Grandmother after she passed. It's in VT and the wooded are hadn't been cleaned up in a long time. So they leased the right to log and received a portion off each load that the logger got. If regular people know how to make money off of private resources on a small scale, we are to believe our Govt is so stupid as to lease for so little, not share in the profit off of the resource, give the company a tax break & loopholes, and also pay them a subsidy on top of that?

My mother and logger of his own small business certainly had to pay the tax on their generated income without any special perks for the beneficial financial transaction. On top of that, regulations and safety issues are still not all that good to prevent the next deep water well from not spilling again. At least my mother's business transaction was positive in creating money and for thinning out forrested area that helps prevent forest fire.

[Blaze Diem]

4. Great story

Reminds me of how the USA used to be.
Before corporations governed, that is.

[Fearless]

3. I love how our Democratic administration is pro-environment...

:eyes:

[newfie11]

5. Didn't I see a post yesterday that BP's spill in the gulf is spewing again

Just what we need, more holes in the gulf.

[Blaze Diem]

6. Yes you did see it. & I believe there is little hope at all for

the America I once knew. I truly believe the New World Order GHWBush spoke of, is here and those who monetarily sit at the top, now own what once was OUR American political system.
Our voices get smaller & our democracy erodes.
Money buys power.
I believe Obama was chosen because Hillary was in the race.
Its like watching a movie & wishing it would have turned out different. But we're no longer writing the script.
I want my Country back.
Thanks
Blaze