Moratorium wouldn't affect 99 percent of Gulf production

On her show last night, Rachel Maddow looked at the basics of drilling and production and exactly how much activity the Obama administration's proposed moratorium on drilling would stop.

In the first clip, Maddow explains how the Gulf oil industry works:

In the second, she explains that the moratorium would actually have affected fewer than 1 percent of the 3,600 rigs in the Gulf:

Discuss this post

If this is true then "Why" enact such a joke of a moratorium. Anything over 500 ft does enclude a majority of wells in the Gulf....Need to get your facts right

    Reply#1 - Fri Jun 25, 2010 4:27 PM EDT

    Yes you certainly do need to get your facts straight, Tom L.-1919614 - The move is for the purpose of evaluating flawed deep water exploration activities, not producing well's already there. I hope your "seeing eye dog" is brighter than you are. If you are still confused try a less technical subject like propping open a screen door or popping open a Bud Lite.

    • 4 votes
    #1.1 - Sun Jun 27, 2010 6:27 AM EDT
    Reply

    So, why hasn't 60 Minutes or CBS or NBC News done this investigation?  Why?  Well, why have they allowed the Oil iIndustries line of bull become gospel?  They have helped block any and all moves to get us off oil and into alternative, renewable fules for DECADES!!!!!!  Their talking point of "but we NEED oil" is just that, a talking point.  It is only because of their filthy money, derived from their filthy exploiting of the earth, that has blocked this science from moving forward.  Until they are exposed for what they are, nothing will change.  The so-called "liberal" media is another myth, repeated so often that it has practically become fact.  Rachel - you GO GIRL!!

    • 4 votes
    Reply#2 - Sat Jun 26, 2010 9:15 AM EDT

    Where ever you are... looking around you... how many things do you see made of plastic? Including the bottle of water you are drinking. They are all made from Oil. Look at your car, computer, scooter, and the list goes on and on and on... Oil is not just used for fuel... The Oil Industry has been pushing for an alternative fuel… they would love for all of us to convert to Natural Gas... it is abundant and is environmentally friendly... it burns much cleaner then Clean Burning Coal. The BP disaster is not a normal occurrence… it was negligence based on poor decisions and greed… so don’t hold the whole industry accountable for their mistake. The Oil Industry is as mad as or madder at BP than anyone else is, I assure you.

      #2.1 - Tue Jul 6, 2010 11:12 AM EDT

      Hey Kate...what do you drive?

        #2.2 - Fri Jul 9, 2010 12:03 AM EDT
        Reply

        More lip service and another slap in the face to anyone who cares about having a safe place to live. This is not a GOP vs Democrat issue; Breton Island was established by Teddy Roosevelt and is now destroyed, Theodore Roosevelt enacted the Migratory and Native Bird Acts in 1924 to save what he thought was important. Being T. Roosevelt was the greatest Republican President (and that includes Lincoln, don't care for how Sherman burnt the South the Confederates were still US citizens aiming for succession), wouldn't the GOP like to do something to help the South and retain historical dignity for one of its greatest members? No, we have no country anymore, just one big cess pool of corruption and toxic waste.

        • 1 vote
        Reply#3 - Sun Jul 4, 2010 1:01 PM EDT

        Rachel does a somewhat sceued job of reporting, but in this situation it is not hard to paint a dire situation. what is confusing is that these oil spill disasters have occured at least 25 times in the last 30 years. What you lovers of your lipstick, rubber toys, plastic swimming pools, appliances, etc didn't think about the environment when it was happening to another country or citizen of the world...no the companies and governments are not to blame...you the Wal-Mart consumer are to blame..as long as you get your "stuff" you don't care how it's made or where it comes from..Oh, that is someone elses job. You idiots.

          Reply#4 - Tue Jul 6, 2010 6:10 PM EDT

          Rachael is a nut. I have been out here in the gulf of mexico for 36 years and still working. there are not 3600 rigs in the gulf. its more like 200 or so. she gets rigs(drilling) mixed up with oil producing structures.

          If you have opinions, educate yourself first, please.

          • 1 vote
          Reply#5 - Wed Jul 7, 2010 9:07 AM EDT
          denissr-1Deleted
          Reply

          Well, she crudely "explains" and oversimplifies a fact about the industry, and then exaggerates it to defend the Administration's ill-conceived moratorium. Nice role for the media, by the way.

          All in, umm, forty five seconds. Isn't she clever? She can explain anything to her viewers!

          But she's wrong. She implies (only God knows if she really understands what she's talking about) that only exploratory drilling rigs drill wells and that is completely false.

          "And since those exploratory drilling rigs such a tiny percentage of all the structures in the Gulf, it's not a big impact, percentage wise."

          It's a bit like saying that since the number of first-run movies in theaters is such a tiny percentage of all the movies that could be watched (TV, DVDs) on a given day, then the movie production business can really shut down for six months without affecting all that many people.

          Sure, Rachel.

          We recognize the type: "Hey, why don't I come down there for a couple of days and you can teach me everything you know about the oil and gas business." Same kind of people President Obama has stacked onto his commission to study the moratorium.

            Reply#6 - Thu Jul 8, 2010 12:17 AM EDT

            After reading all the entries, it seems many are hung up on wheter it a rig or a well, and if there are 200 or 3600. Let's not loose sight of the small number of one rig, and the overwelming amount of damage it has done.

            Shouldn't therebe fail safes in place to stop this before going forward?

            • 1 vote
            Reply#7 - Thu Jul 8, 2010 3:21 PM EDT

            If the liberals had let them drill closer to shore they could have stopped the damage as soon as it happened, but since they had to drill out where you have to go down 5,000 ft...and the Federal Safety Regulators were in bed with the oil guys (probably the Lincoln bedroom) it's been nearly impossible to get the leak stopped. If the people on here are so against drilling oil...start learning Farsi...and stop driving your gas guzzler today.

              #7.1 - Fri Jul 9, 2010 12:13 AM EDT
              denissr-1Deleted
              Reply

              This is a perfect example why many refrain from watching the news on ABC, NBC, CBS, or MSNBC.Today on a segment of the "Glen Beck Show" on FOX (Fox Cable News) was the following:

              "Today, even though President Obama is against off shore drilling for our country, he signed an executive order to loan 2 Billion of our taxpayers dollars to a Brazilian Oil Exploration Company (which is the 8th largest company in the entire world) to drill for oil off the coast of Brazil ! The oil that comes from this operation is for the sole purpose and use of China and NOT THE USA ! Now here's the real clincher...the Chinese government is under contract to purchase all the oil that this oil field will produce, which is hundreds of millions of barrels of oil"..We have absolutely no gain from this transaction whatsoever. Wait, it gets more interesting. Guess who is the largest individual stockholder of this Brazilian Oil Company, and who would benefit most from this? It is American BILLIONAIRE, George Soros, who was one of President Obama's most generous financial supporter during his campaign. If you are able to connect the dots and follow the money, you are probably as upset as I am. Not a word of this transaction was broadcast on any of the other news networks!

                Reply#8 - Thu Jul 8, 2010 11:57 PM EDT

                This is a perfect example why many refrain from watching the news on ABC, NBC, CBS, or MSNBC.Today on a segment of the "Glen Beck Show" on FOX (Fox Cable News) was the following:

                "Today, even though President Obama is against off shore drilling for our country, he signed an executive order to loan 2 Billion of our taxpayers dollars to a Brazilian Oil Exploration Company (which is the 8th largest company in the entire world) to drill for oil off the coast of Brazil ! The oil that comes from this operation is for the sole purpose and use of China and NOT THE USA ! Now here's the real clincher...the Chinese government is under contract to purchase all the oil that this oil field will produce, which is hundreds of millions of barrels of oil"..We have absolutely no gain from this transaction whatsoever. Wait, it gets more interesting. Guess who is the largest individual stockholder of this Brazilian Oil Company, and who would benefit most from this? It is American BILLIONAIRE, George Soros, who was one of President Obama's most generous financial supporter during his campaign. If you are able to connect the dots and follow the money, you are probably as upset as I am. Not a word of this transaction was broadcast on any of the other news networks!

                  Reply#9 - Fri Jul 9, 2010 12:14 AM EDT

                  If anybody is really interested in the number of wells affected by the proposed moratorium, here is a direct quote from the Judge's ruling:

                  In the Executive Summary to the Report, the Secretary recommends "a six-month moratorium on permits for new wells being drilled using floating rigs." He also recommends "an immediate halt to drilling operations on the 33 permitted wells, not including relief wells currently being drilled by BP, that are currently being drilled using floating rigs in the Gulf of Mexico."

                  That sounds like 33 that are being drilled using floating platforms, with others in the permitting process (not yet being drilled.) Anybody see anything there about currently producing wells or wells being drilled using other technologies?

                  A map of the rigs off the Gulf Coast is here: http://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/explorations/06mexico/background/oil/media/platform_600.html

                  That looks like an awful lot more than 33. OK, it's nearly 4,000.

                  Why is deepwater exploration underway? Because it is one of the last places Western oil companies can get access to waning worldwide oil and gas reserves. http://www.wikinvest.com/concept/Deepwater_Oil_Exploration#_note-0

                  The Department of Energy EIA notes:

                  This Outlook includes EIA’s revised estimates of reductions in production resulting from the 6-month deepwater drilling moratorium announced by Secretary of the Interior Salazar on May 27. The reductions in crude oil production resulting from the moratorium are estimated to average about 31,000 barrels per day (bbl/d) in the fourth quarter of 2010 (compared with an estimated 26,000 bbl/d in last month’s Outlook)and about 82,000 bbl/d in 2011 (up from 70,000 bbl/d). EIA will continue to refine its estimated moratorium impacts as additional information becomes available.

                  So, in the worst case, 82,000 bbl/day, the reduction in Gulf Oil production is 5% in 2011 and about 2% in 2010 (EIA Gulf figures are here: http://www.eia.gov/oog/special/gulf/gulf_fact_sheet.html#2ftnotet1)

                  The industry has known that there are problems with blow out preventers since 2002, and Chevron even touted its efforts to upgrade the technology last year. http://alaskadispatch.com/projects/gulf-spill/5435-blowout-preventer-problems-were-known-as-early-as-2002?start=1

                    Reply#10 - Sat Jul 10, 2010 3:57 PM EDT
                    denissr-1Deleted

                    Thank you denissr-1, For checking the facts, and moving beyond the politics of fabricate, insult and blame.

                      Reply#12 - Tue Jul 13, 2010 4:23 PM EDT

                      Rachael M... is a news HACK...she is articulate, pleasant and interesting in her own way . I would date her , but I don't think she would have a MAN like me AND YES !!! she does have an agenda .

                      Her reporting IS NOT to be taken seriously . As you can see it is either BIASED / INACCURATE / OR SPIN !!!!!

                        Reply#13 - Thu Jul 15, 2010 4:43 PM EDT
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