Although media reports on the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) usually contain majestic pictures of animals frolicking, few mention the financial
“[T]he 1.5-million-acre tip of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is critical for the health of an ancient caribou herd,” weatherman Sam Champion said on the May 6 “Good Morning America.”
“It’s a safe haven for calving every spring. The same area is valuable for another reason. Underneath it lies billions of barrels of crude oil, as of yet untapped. Oil companies say drilling can be done without danger, but environmentalists disagree. They think drilling would devastate the land and its wildlife,” said Champion.
The Biz Flog, the video blog of the Business & Media Institute, for July 16 focused on what it would take to drill in ANWR and how long it would take the financial
According to the Energy Information Administration, it could take 10 years for ANWR oil to hit the market if drilling began in 2008. But experts are pushing ANWR as only one of many possible solutions.
Daniel Yergin of Cambridge Energy Research Associates told Tom Keene on Bloomberg’s “On the Economy” podcast July 1 that he thought an “ecumenical” approach was best, saying politicians can’t think that there is only one thing they can do to solve the problem of high oil prices. “Sorry it doesn’t work in a 14 trillion dollar economy like that,” he said.
“We do not think we can drill our way out of this problem,” said Cathy Landry, a spokeswoman for the American Petroleum Institute, an industry group. “It has to be a complete long term energy policy that includes conservation, that includes energy efficiency and that includes alternative energy sources. But it also needs to include domestic oil and gas drilling.”
But with gas prices setting record highs and an estimated 10 billion gallons of oil in ANWR, Americans may be looking to make drilling in ANWR one of those things.
A June 2008 poll from the
—Paul Detrick is a Research Analyst at the Business and Media Institute.
Editor at Large
Comments Policy
We need a compromise
July 16, 2008 - 16:51 ET by ArcherBFace it. Democrats are NEVER going to allow drilling in ANWR. They will do whatever they possibly can to stop it, including a fillibuster. This means that we will NEVER drill in ANWR until Republicans have at least a 2/3 control of congress, and we don't see that happening any time soon.
So, rather than work against the Democrats, I say we work with them and throw them a bone. Propose that we open ANWR for drilling, and put a large percentage of the profit into renewable research and the rest into a clean up fund for any potential disasters.
Of course, we would still see resistance from Democrats, but once you point out to the public that this can produce 1 trillion dollars ($1,000,000,000,000) for renewable energy research, I don't see how they can say no and hope to get re-elected outside of Berkely.
Comments?
"To send men to the firing squad, judicial proof is unnecessary." Ernesto "Che" Guevara
ArcherB.....Wrong ethanol Breath....Drilling ANWR has passed
July 16, 2008 - 20:58 ET by JayTeeAuthorization for Drilling in ANWR has passed the Congress already, back in Clinton days......Vetoed by Clinton.
And gas was REAL cheap then.....it is going to pass Again...and the LONGER IT TAKES, the more DEMOCRATS will Bite the Dust in the Elections coming up.
Sometimes there is a One ISSUE Election.....and Pelosi is on the wrong side of the Issue, along with Obamarama.
The Clock is winding down on the Politicians...tic....tic....tic...
The Republican Revolution will not be Televised
um.... Riiight.
July 17, 2008 - 02:28 ET by ArcherBUm... yeah. Because we are in such a better position today than we
were in Republicans held both houses and the Whitehouse. Seriously, if
we couldn't do it then, WTF makes you think we can do it now?
They seem to be doing OK to me. (pasting the data didn't work to well. You will need to check out the site yourself.)
I think you have a bad case of wishful thinking.
"To send men to the firing squad, judicial proof is unnecessary." Ernesto "Che" Guevara
Say what?
July 17, 2008 - 13:15 ET by CobraMan"put a large percentage of the profit into renewable research and the rest into a clean up fund for any potential disasters."
Our oil industry isn’t nationalized. What private company is going to spend tens of millions of dollars drilling and recovering the oil if their profits from said venture are taken away and given to someone else? Searching for, drilling for, and recovering that oil is NOT going to be cheap. Without a substantial profit available in which to pay off their initial investments, private business won't even try. No company in the world is going invest in a process where they are guaranteed to lose money.
Here is how it works.
July 17, 2008 - 14:17 ET by ArcherBNope, but ANWR is. That means the US government owns that oil. When you own a piece of land with oil under it, you don't just say, "OK, big oil company, come get it! Please don't step on my roses." and let them take the profits with them.
Fact is, the oil company PAYS YOU to even explore the area and then, if they find oil, work out a deal on how much money they pay you to extract it. I know this because that's how it's working with my uncle right now. An "oil company" (a small one) approached him as the land owner of a particular plot and offerend him something $2,000/acre to explore. If they find any oil, they still need his permission to drill there. So, at that point, they decide what it will cost to extract and make a proposal that is beneficial to both parties.
Granted, I don't know what the setup costs are, but I can promise that
it is much less than the $1 Trillion that the government would make of
such a deal. There are an estimated 10.4 billion barrels of oil at ANWR. So even if you promise to pay a company's set up cost plus $10 per barrel, that means a company would stand to make $100,000,000,000 over the next 10 years or so with ZERO financial risks. Do you really think too many companies are going to turn that down. Even if you don't pay the setup costs, there will be no shortage of bidders when there is $100 billion on the line.
"To send men to the firing squad, judicial proof is unnecessary." Ernesto "Che" Guevara
Do you even know what you're talking about?
July 17, 2008 - 15:18 ET by CobraMan"Fact is, the oil company PAYS YOU to even explore the area and then, if they find oil, work out a deal on how much money they pay you to extract it."
They pay ME? Since when? I guess you think that I'm paying MYSELF, right? Fact is, the oil companies get their operating funds from their consumers, like me, through the sales of their product. Since I am part of the revenue source for those companies, it's obvious that the oil companies don't pay ME for oil exploration and extraction rights, I pay the government for those rights through the oil companies.
"An "oil company" (a small one) approached him as the land owner of a particular plot and offerend him something $2,000/acre to explore. "
Do you realize that the government OWNS the land that your uncle LEASES for his private use? That's what a land or property lease IS, a rental agreement between a property "owner" and a government. Your uncle really doesn’t own the land; he just owns the buildings that reside on that land, alone with the right to build more buildings as long as he doesn't violate zoning laws. And he sure doesn't "own" any oil there, the government does as they hold all mineral exploration and exploitation rights on "private" properties, rights which they can lease to any one they please, at the right price of course. They could even kick your uncle off “his” land and give the “rights” to the oil company if they wished. I know it’s a lot more complicated than that, but I don’t think that you understand just how complex it is.
"Nope, but ANWR is."
If the oil residing under ANWR is "owned" by the federal government as you suggest, why doesn't the military simply drill for that oil through an executive order from the President. They could sub-contract the drilling to outside, private companies. This would avoid the entire "ban", would it not? But this is not happening, is it? Why is that? The ban on oil extraction in ANWR is not the federal government “owning” the land and refusing to lease mineral rights to anyone, it’s a legal ban on any DEVELOPMENT of that land by public or private enterprises. You do understand the difference, don’t you?
I should add
July 17, 2008 - 15:36 ET by CobraManI should add that your uncle also "owns" control over access to his property. He can alow or deny access to the property to any one he wishes. That's what the oil company wants to pay for, access to his property. But that doesn't mean you uncles OWNS the oil, the rights for that oil belongs to government.
Are you kidding?
July 17, 2008 - 16:08 ET by ArcherBSorry, but I'm afraid that you are wrong here. My uncle owns whatever is on his property as well as what is under it and even the air over it (See Mineral Rights). Otherwise, what would prevent his neighbor from doing some horizontal drilling and extract it out from under him? Saying that the government owns the resources on private land is communism. That would be like saying that farmer owns the land, but the government owns the crop. Sorry, but that just ain't so. Mineral rights are private. Just ask Al Gore.
"To send men to the firing squad, judicial proof is unnecessary." Ernesto "Che" Guevara
Unless your uncle lives on
July 17, 2008 - 16:13 ET by bassndudeUnless your uncle lives on a farm/ranch that was his prior to the 70's and in some cases the 50's, he owns the land, but not the mineral rights. It is not very often you can find a piece of property that the mineral right go with when you buy it. All developers, home, business, whatever, retain the mineral rights after they develop the property. There is not a housing development in the US where the individual home owners own their mineral rights.
Save a SeAL, club a liberal!!
Doesn't matter
July 17, 2008 - 16:36 ET by ArcherBIt is a "ranch" that has been family owned for over a century. It was a wedding gift from his father-in-law. If he didn't own the mineral rights, the companies that want to explore there wouldn't be talking to him anyway.
Either way, it doesn't matter as we are not really talking about my uncle except to explain how an oil lease works. I can assure you that the federal government owns the mineral rights to ANWR.
"To send men to the firing squad, judicial proof is unnecessary." Ernesto "Che" Guevara
I know how an oil lease
July 17, 2008 - 17:55 ET by bassndudeI know how an oil lease works. We had 4 wells on our old place when I was a kid. And they paid us to drain the saltwater from the storage tanks everyday, to boot. Not to mention oiling them and changing the belts when needed. I bought an acerage east of town in 85, with mineral rights. Later leased the mineral rights to a gas company. Seems there was natural gas in that area. Still getting the checks. Sold the property, kept the mineral rights.
Save a SeAL, club a liberal!!
Excellent!
July 17, 2008 - 21:31 ET by ArcherBGreat! They pay you to extract natural gas from your property (or at the place you hold the rights to). Just like if they drill in ANWR or on any other federal land, they will cut a check to that land mineral rights owner... the Federal Government.
If there are no further questions, I would like to point the discussion back to my original point many posts ago. Invest that money into renewable energy research in order to:
"To send men to the firing squad, judicial proof is unnecessary." Ernesto "Che" Guevara
Bad Ideas about ANWR
July 17, 2008 - 22:38 ET by PopularTechFirst of all the free market should decide where oil companies invest their money, this is not socialism.
Of course we can do something, we can EDUCATE people on the reality of ANWR and not the propaganda by conceeding to bullshit ideas.
- ANWR: 19.6 million acres. Size of oil production area: 2,000 acres (about the size of an Airport) (Source)
- 10.4 Billion barrels of oil are estimated in ANWR (USGS)
- Original Prudhoe Bay estimate: 8 Billion barrels, Actual: 14 Billion barrels (to date)
- 75% of Alaskans support responsible energy exploration in ANWR
ANWR Not the Frosty Paradise It's Cracked Up To Be (Townhall)
Alaska’s Gull Island Oil Fields Could Power U.S. for 200 Years (American Free Press)
Alaska Pipeline Doomsayings Revisited (Business & Media Institute)
Myths About Drilling in ANWR (FOX News)
Please stop with the propaganda that we are sending all our money to our "enemies"
- The largest supplier of oil to the United States is Canada (EIA)
- The second largest supplier of oil to the United States is Mexico (EIA)
- 60% of United States oil imports come from non-OPEC countries (EIA)
- Only 16% of United States oil imports come from Middle Eastern countries (EIA)
Myths About Breaking Our Foreign Oil Habit (The Washington Post)
The Anti 'Man-Made' Global Warming Resource
Bass...
July 17, 2008 - 16:58 ET by Clear thinkerIt could be worse. In Canada, the government owns ALL mineral rights.
45 Communist Goals for America http://www.nationmakers.com/com_goals.htm
Clear
July 17, 2008 - 17:49 ET by bassndudeOne thing I have learned, above all else is, no matter how bad things are, it can always be, or get. worse. That especially applys to when the goverment gets their fingers in something.
Save a SeAL, club a liberal!!
Come on now
July 17, 2008 - 16:59 ET by ArcherBand
So you are saying that the government really owns private land and is only leasing it to citizens, but somehow doesn't own mineral rights to federal land? Uh, who does then?
And the reason the prez can't just order the military to drill there is because IT'S BANNED BY CONGRESS. Federal land is not under the absolute control of the executive branch. It's FEDERAL, meaning all three branches of government.
Either way, what's you point? Are you saying that the federal government is not allowed to drill for oil? Are you saying that oil companies, through some devine right, owns all oil and merely leases the land needed to extract it? What exactly are you saying?
From HERE:
"To send men to the firing squad, judicial proof is unnecessary." Ernesto "Che" Guevara
→ Stupid Republicans
July 16, 2008 - 17:03 ET by Cool ArrowWhen will we learn to play like Democrats in this sandbox???
You want to drill ANWR?
LYDSEXICS UNTIE
I guess the democrats don't
July 16, 2008 - 17:36 ET by mjgI guess the democrats don't care anything about the people who they are supposed to serve. So I won't care anything about them and their jobs either.
How long did it take
July 16, 2008 - 18:08 ET by 10ksnookerTo come to that realization? All Democrats care about is power, which they wield foolishly.
Raise taxes, fund socialsim and gun control. It's all Democrats know.
Not long. I agree. I know
July 16, 2008 - 18:59 ET by mjgNot long. I agree. I know what the democrats are all about.
"[T]he 1.5-million-acre tip
July 16, 2008 - 17:42 ET by Jerry"[T]he 1.5-million-acre tip of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is critical for the health of an ancient caribou herd.."
The whole argument about endangering the caribou is absolutely ridiculous. Just look at their "cousins", the deer. Here in NC, we hunt them with our rifles, hit them with our cars, over-develop the country-side like crazy, and there are more deer than you can shake a stick at. We are over-run with the dang critters.
If the caribou are so stupid that they cannot adapt to a miniscule slice of their multi-million acre refuge being used for oil wells, then they should be extinct.
When asked if he went to war with Iraq to derail the impeachment vote: “I don’t think any serious person would believe that any President would do such a thing." - President Clinton (Dec 1998).
Jerry
July 16, 2008 - 18:06 ET by UphillThat might be the best analogy on this subject that I have ever read. We here in Michigan have the same problem. Like squirrels they're everywhere. Soon deer will be walking the power lines. Easier targets but a potential hazard when they fall to the ground.
Since I just posted a lot
July 16, 2008 - 17:44 ET by bigtimerSince I just posted a lot of what I thought of all of this on another thread...
I'll just say...it always takes getting hit in the pocketbook to get people to wake up and smell the oil.
Drill often....Drill Everywhere!
"America isn't the problem...America is the solution." ~ Rush Limbaugh
→ Amen to that bt
July 16, 2008 - 17:54 ET by Cool ArrowBut it must be hard for those who claim such altruism in their everyday public displays, that they now must redefine a new stand as having never left the old one.
It's pragmatic to drill, but hypocritical if one has already declared entrenchment in the old movement.
LYDSEXICS UNTIE
what a crock
July 16, 2008 - 18:33 ET by wizardjrConsider the lovely state of South Carolina. That's how big the ANWR is. Now consider New York City's Central Park. It's almost 800 acres. Take three Central Parks and place them down somewhere in South Carolina. Did anyone even notice? Did the ecosystem of South Carolina collapse?
The drilling site is on the frozen coastal plain. The caribou do NOT breed there every year, they actually prefer other areas. The drilling site is a mere 70 miles along the coast from Prudhoe Bay where we've been working for decades. It will not take 10 years to bring up oil from ANWR and pipeline it to Prudhoe.
What a crock.
Energy
July 16, 2008 - 18:59 ET by JDWBush nullified the drilling veto and put pressure on congress about America's oil needs. A few days later the price per barrel drops almost $15. The connection is obvious.
According to the Energy Information Administration, it could take 10 years for ANWR oil to hit the market if drilling began in 2008.
Stephen Moore from WSJ just wrote an article which stated bringing oil from the field to gas in one's car would be a matter of 4 to 6 years. What if we had begun the process last decade?
JDW
SAPPY NEWS
DAILY WAVE
I am damn sick of
July 16, 2008 - 19:36 ET by ConservativeRexI am damn sick of democrats telling the oil men that they have "86 million acres of leases to drill in" so start drilling. The idiots. Do they actually believe that oil companies are intentionally going to drill where they know there isn't any oil? Hell, they might as well dig for gold in Chuck U. Schumer's backyard! Congress, for God's sake, you mess every single thing you touch, up, let the oil men handle the oil business.
CR.. It is simple as
July 16, 2008 - 19:45 ET by bigtimerCR..
It is simple as that...
You said it all.
I wished they would just shut the hell up, get out of the way.
Unfortunately...they have made to many laws...all tangled and weaved to stop the very simple solutions to all of this for over thirty years or we wouldn't be in this mess in the first place.
Good ol' govt.
$$$ for their backers....in this case environs and trial lawyers...
Regulations and Depts....too many of them, shop for liberal judges, you got one to stop years of progress...
Permits take forever for approval, refineries included in all of the mess of course.
On and on it goes....
"America isn't the problem...America is the solution." ~ Rush Limbaugh
Remember the old joke about
July 16, 2008 - 19:52 ET by motherbeltRemember the old joke about the drunk looking around under a street lamp? Passerby asks "Lose something?"
"I dropped my keys over there....."
"Then why are you looking way over here?"
"Light's better."
"Why are you drilling here when the oil's over there?"
"It's the only place we're allowed...."
To Her Speakerness, it makes perfect sense.
Shoot 'em all; let God sort 'em out! - Marge Simpson
Hi mb.. For Pelosi it is
July 16, 2008 - 20:04 ET by bigtimerHi mb..
For Pelosi it is just another political talking point excuse that all her lemmings are using in congress and some in the msm...it is getting old...
...problem is the majority of this country will see through this too...
Then she'll be on to some other excuse...talking point again...they are bound and determined to hold off anything passing regarding drilling ect until after the election...even though some dems are speaking out now, they are hearing their constituents and wary of losing their seats....
...going to be interesting to see if the powers like Reid and Pelosi cut off their nose to spite their party....
I hope so...we may have a chance to gain seats after-all...if McCain would get out of the way...at least he is for drilling off shore now...
What a guy, since he is responsible for a lot of the stoppage of this himself for years in the Senate as the RINO he is.
"America isn't the problem...America is the solution." ~ Rush Limbaugh
----
July 16, 2008 - 22:29 ET by dahliatraversThat's very good, Motherbelt.
It's much less important that oil actually be found than that Dems in Congress be able to say that they did something (no matter how ineffective).
Timing
July 16, 2008 - 23:20 ET by NortoEver notice that Bush's timing is weird? Take Rumsfeld, remember when he got done, right after we lost Congress.
Now Bush makes the off shore move and prices begin to drop. Too bad it was not done sooner, my Brother-in-law might have been able to stay in his small business. This thought is keeping me awake this evening. I think many of these small guys ought to apply for disaster relief?!
Like a broken record.
July 16, 2008 - 23:56 ET by HeavyChevy“We do not think we can drill our way out of this problem,” God I am so tired of them beating that dead horse. We get it, everyone is saying it, looks good on a bumper sticker mantra, but when its all said and done drilling will sure as hell help until we can get the "pixie dust" technology the eco-freaks has up and running.
No drilling in ANWR tied to Saudi Arabia and the dollar?
July 17, 2008 - 08:05 ET by ChuckM from PAI heard a rumor the other day that the real reason USA doesn't drill in ANWR is that the Saidis have threatened to switch to the Euro as their trade currency if the USA drills there. Anyone else hear of this story?
This will happen if the
July 17, 2008 - 08:19 ET by HermanoThis will happen if the dollar continues to fall. Countries want to deal with strong currencies. At this time, we are sending a boat-load of dollars off-shore and this is the reason for the weakness.Once the Euro came into existence, we were in a competition with a potentially strong currency. It took about 5 years or so for investors to really get into the Euro, but it may now be the most stable currency.
DEMOCRATS: WILL ROPE-A-DOPE ON OIL
July 17, 2008 - 13:52 ET by reelman46Am taking all bets that if gas is below $6 a gallon the democrats (socialists) will simply “run out the clock” till 2009 with every liberal strawman and shallow factless assertion in their arsenal. No more drilling, no examining the fuel used by 12 million illegals, no dropping of silly “sue OPEC” approach, no tax relief to help…nothing but tired words from folks who never understand free enterprise because they are big gov-ment socialists. This is the modern democrat.
Democrats do it on every major national issue…like Social Security and the Mexican invasion for starters. The modern democrat never ever wants to solve a national problem long range. What would they campaign on next time? Where would the demon strawman be?
Now these fools are talking about borrowing more billions on your credit card to have another Stimulus Package! Its only debt. Its all to buy your vote while never solving the problem.
How many miles do you get with a gallon of Reid-Pelosi? Your pain is their (power) gain. Get the picture? Suckers.
Doug Schexnayder, Ph.D. (theconservativecrawfish)