Monday: Another Important Deadline! OCS Comment Deadlines Continue Like Endless Ocean Waves (NGP Photo-below) Determined To Erode Our Shores. But we cannot give up. Send us your comment and we will post it to make it Internet searchable! We have just intercepted this comment from Kaye Laughlin, a great American!
Commentary: Stop....please take 3 minutes now to send in a comment on the revised exploration plan (EP) for the the Beaufort Sea leases. Shell's EP has already gone through an extensive review and approval process back in 2009. BOEMRE is again asking for public input following establishment of
new, post-Deepwater Horizon standards. You can bet the 'anti' forces will be commenting. If this EP is not approved swiftly, next summer’s exploration season may be in jeopardy. America needs this work for the country's economic recovery and Alaska needs it to replenish declining production, jobs and revenue. THE COMMENT PERIOD ENDS MONDAY, so please comment now. Here is Boemre's announcement. Here is a comment I sent in today. Feel free to copy it, rephrase it or to simply say, "Please quickly approve the revised Beaufort Sea Exploration Plan" and file your comments electronically, here. As we have pointed out before, comments of elected officials are especially noted and important in federal proceedings. In this case, when you file a comment BOEMRE asks commenters to note their government affiliations. We wonder, when all but a few of our local, state and cogressional leaders DO NOT COMMENT, do they REALIZE they are supporting the continued weakening of Alaska's economy? When they do not comment, what are they thinking, we wonder? It's not like they haven't been alerted.... -dh (Note: today, the EPA released draft air quality permits for the Chuckhi and Beaufort Seas. Draft. That means yet another comment period looms, this one with a September 6 deadline. Might as well comment on that one too, while we're all mobilized for the Monday comment!)
The Gulf Economic Survival Team (GEST) today released a nationwide study on the devastating job losses and economic impacts as a result of the significant slowdown in drilling activity in the Gulf of Mexico. The study observed the pace and volume of offshore plans and examined the economic consequences of slowed energy production in the Gulf created by the Obama Administration’s de facto moratorium. (Commentary: Obama's Interior Secretary Ken Salazar (NGP Photo-R) applied gulf 
deepwater drilling moratoria to Alaska's shallow waters without notice to the National Register, Governor Parnell, or the Lessees; Salazar's Director Mike Bromwich (NGP Photo) denied a moratorium existed in Alaska -- quickly followed by Salazar's contradiction (hear audio). The devastation, then, of the Gulf moratorium has not been restricted to the Lower 48. By withholding permits that would have permitted exploration in Alaska's OCS this summer, Obama's actual and de facto moratoria have also delayed and potentially thwarted eager investors ready to unleash safe exploration activity anticipated to result in over 50,000 jobs per year nationally -- for 50 years -- while providing hope to Alaska's flagging economy. -dh)
Governor Sean Parnell and colleague governors support OCS revenue sharing.
Check Here for Shell's Alaska web page and descriptions of Its Alaska history, capabilities and plans.
Dave Harbour Comment to BOEM - Readers are free to use this statement or one of their own that more accurately reflects their own opinion. For reference,
here is BOEMRE's announcement and instruction for filing comments before Monday, July 25. -dh
I urge the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation, and Enforcement to review and timely approve the revised Exploration Plan for leases in the Beaufort Sea—so that exploration planning, logistical preparation and execution can commence immediately. The Bureau has thoroughly examined this plan before and approved it back in 2009, following an Environmental Assessment which found no concern for environmental impact. This revised EP demonstrates the lessee’s capacity to prevent and respond to an oil spill. Following the Deepwater Horizon tragedy in April 2010, the lessee augmented its EP to include an updated Oil Discharge Prevention and Contingency Plan (ODPCP) that meets or exceeds federal and state regulatory standards. This ODPCP has been through an exhaustive review by both the public and the Bureau over the past four years, and this latest iteration only strengthens the previously approved Plan. The EP includes further mitigation efforts that minimize the risk for a loss of well control, including adding redundant technologies and practices. The level of preparation and the magnitude of response resources are unprecedented. Alaskan OCS oil and natural gas resources are critical to the economy of Alaska and the lower-48 states as well as for this nation’s increasingly sensitive energy security. This area contains an estimated 27 billion barrels of oil and 132 trillion cubic feet of natural gas – one of the largest energy basins in the United States. Developing these resources could help create an annual average of over 54,000 jobs in Alaska and the United States and generate approximately $193 billion in revenues for federal, state, and local governments. The 2/3 empty Trans-Alaska Pipeline System (TAPS) needs additional resources if it is to remain operable over the coming decades. As onshore oil production in Prudhoe Bay declines, the pipeline’s daily throughput has declined to a mere 600,000 barrels a day, down from a high of over 2 million barrels per day in 1988. TAPS currently transports 11 percent of domestic oil production, most of which is sent to West Coast refineries that supply consumers in California, Washington, and Oregon with stable sources of energy. If TAPS were to close due to low throughput, these refineries would be forced to import from areas such as Russia and other Asian markets, as happened during the temporary shutdown of TAPS in January 2011.
Kaye Laughlin Comment:
It is critical for the U.S. that the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation, and Enforcement quickly review and approve the revised Exploration Plan for the Beaufort Sea leases. It is vital to the U.S. and Alaska that project planning, and logistics can start immediately. The Bureau previously examined and approved the plan in 2009, with a subsequent Environmental Assessment that resulted in environmental impact concern about the lessee’s ability to prevent and respond to an oil spill. The updated plan includes additional mitigation to minimize the risk of well control loss that includes redundant technologies and practices. The preparation and scope of response resources are unprecedented. Alaskan OCS oil and natural gas resources are critical to the economy of Alaska and the lower-48 states as well as for this nation’s increasingly sensitive energy security with an estimated 27 billion barrels of oil and 132 trillion cubic feet of natural gas that are vital to the U.S. energy- independence. An annual average of over 54,000 jobs in Alaska and the United States and approximately $193 billion in revenues for federal, state, and local governments will be generated. The Trans-Alaska Pipeline System (TAPS) is about 2/3 empty. Additional oil is needed to keep it operational. Onshore oil production in Prudhoe Bay is declining and the pipeline’s daily throughput is only 600,000 barrels a day, down from over 2 million barrels per day in 1988. TAPS currently transports 11 percent of domestic oil, most of that is sent to West Coast refineries for consumers in California, Washington, and Oregon. This would result in closed U.S. refineries and imports from Russia and other Asian markets.
