2020-05-26 10:35:00
U.S. OFFSHORE DRILLING PROBLEM
REUTERS - MAY 26, 2020 - A U.S. ban on new offshore drilling in the Gulf of Mexico, which presidential hopeful Joe Biden promised to enact if elected, would lead to hundreds of thousands of job losses and billions in lost government revenue over 20 years, an offshore drilling industry group said on Tuesday.
The report by the Washington-based National Ocean Industries Association comes as Biden and other Democrats hoping to unseat Republican President Donald Trump in November's election have vowed to shift the country away from planet-warming fossil fuels to help avert the worst impacts of climate change.
"It's important for the public and policymakers to understand the ramifications, which are severe," NOIA President Erik Milito said in an interview about the study.
Biden has said that moving away from fossil fuels would pave the way for big job gains in renewable energy.
NOIA said it conducted research on the economic impact of an offshore drilling ban, and analyzed two scenarios: one assuming no new leases, and another assuming no new drilling permits issued beginning in 2022.
If no new permits are issued, the offshore industry would have 179,000 jobs in 2040, less than half the 370,000 jobs it would be projected to support under current policies, the report said. Government revenues from the industry, meanwhile, would be $2.7 billion a year instead of $7 billion, it said.
With no new leases, jobs and revenues would each be more than 25% lower than the business-as-usual forecast.
Last year, drilling in the Gulf of Mexico's Outer Continental Shelf supported 345,000 U.S. jobs and contributed $28.7 billion to the economy. But that was before the coronavirus pandemic choked off demand for transport fuels, igniting an oil price collapse that put the industry in crisis.
NOIA said the report's forecasts take into account the current industry downturn.
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Earlier:
2020, May, 25, 12:45:00
U.S. ENERGY MARKET DOWN
Oil markets are being significantly disrupted due to global market dynamics and the coronavirus pandemic, the oil price crash was "causing financial and credit challenges, including oil company bankruptcies."
2020, May, 25, 12:15:00
U.S. RIGS DOWN 21 TO 318
U.S. Rig Count is down 21 rigs from last week to 318, Canada Rig Count is down 2 rigs from last week to 21
2020, May, 22, 12:50:00
U.S. LNG CANCELED
The July cancellations, roughly double what was reported for June, represent nearly two-thirds the average volume of US LNG that was produced monthly when the coronavirus began to spread globally in January,
2020, May, 21, 12:45:00
U.S. OIL INVENTORIES DOWN BY 5 MB TO 526.5 MB
U.S. commercial crude oil inventories (excluding those in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve) decreased by 5.0 million barrels from the previous week. At 526.5 million barrels, U.S. crude oil inventories are about 10% above the five year average for this time of year.
2020, May, 18, 08:40:00
U.S. GAS PRODUCTION WILL DOWN
U.S. dry natural gas production set a record in 2019, averaging 92.2 Bcf/d. EIA forecasts dry natural gas production will average 89.8 Bcf/d in 2020, with monthly
production falling from an estimated 93.1 Bcf/d in April to 85.4 Bcf/d in December.
2020, May, 15, 11:50:00
U.S. OIL DEMAND DOWN TO 14.2 MBD
Reduced economic activity resulting from shelter-in-place restrictions due to COVID-19 drove significant near-term disruptions to energy markets in the month of April with U.S. petroleum demand falling nearly 27 percent to 14.2 million barrels per day (mb/d),
