E&E News: Cost of producing Arctic oil and gas remains well above market prices

Last week, federal regulators approved Royal Dutch Shell PLC’s plan to begin exploratory drilling off the north coast of Alaska. A year ago, Exxon Mobil Corp. entered into partnership with Rosneft, the Russian state oil company, to explore for oil and gas in the Arctic Kara and Black seas. From China to Norway, nations are moving to assemble fleets of icebreakers capable of penetrating the far north. Is the race for the Arctic’s vast mineral resources finally on?
 
A U.S. tight oil revolution is under way, and its effects on imports and foreign policy will be determined by the price of oil, gasoline demand and infrastructure bottlenecks, economists say. Estimates of U.S. oil production by 2030 varied greatly at a conference on tight oil earlier this week in Washington organized by the United States Association for Energy Economics.
 
Clean-energy companies may benefit from a new political-action committee trying to bridge a policy divide that is playing out in ads featuring Solyndra LLC’s collapse and finger-pointing over high gasoline costs. The Accelerating Energy Leadership, or Accel, PAC will help candidates who support “diversifying American energy sources,” which includes solar and wind power, biomass, nuclear and natural gas, according to an invitation to its inaugural event last month.
 
The unemployment rate was falling and President Obama’s poll numbers were improving, but along came $4 gasoline. Voters are giving Mr. Obama an emphatic thumbs-down for his handling of gas prices — 68 percent disapprove of his response to the problem in the latest Reuters/Ipsos poll.
 
The U.S. government has been under pressure to reduce rising gas prices. As a result the Obama administration has recently announced new procedures to speed up the drilling process for oil and gas companies drilling on public lands. With the faster drilling process implemented companies will be able to start drilling faster and more frequently benefiting companies in the Oil & Gas Equipment and Services Industry.
 
House Democratic leaders on Wednesday amplified their attacks on Wall Street oil traders, arguing that excessive speculation — not a lack of supply — is to blame for skyrocketing prices at the pump. With gas prices tickling $4 per gallon nationwide, the Democrats are trying to counter Republican accusations that President Obama’s energy policies are behind the rapid cost increase.