Thursday, June 10, 2010

British Won't Put More Troops Into Afghanistan

British won't put more troops into Afghanistan.

Who can blame them? America's closest ally has pretty much been humiliated by this administration.

I can't make this stuff up.

The Brits finally see Obama for who he really is. 

124!

Yup, a new record: 124 active oil rigs in North Dakota.

Price of oil continues to rise (good jobless claims report today, and moratorium on new oil coming out of the gulf). We shut down new deep sea drilling just as the economy starts to turn? Timing couldn't be better. Almost as good as an OPEC cut in production.

Factbox Regarding Off-Shore Drilling Moratorium

Click here for the "Factbox" regarding deep water drilling. All deep water drilling has been put on hold for six months and rules/regulations for more shallow drilling is under review.

US gulf off-shore drilling produced 1.6 million gallons/day and accounted for 8% of America's total liquid fuel consumption.

This moratorium is for six months: not six days, not six weeks, but well past the next Congressional election.

You think OPEC is re-negotiating its futures contracts?

I see price of  oil has risen every day since the announcement went into effect.

There also appears to be an inverse relationship between the number of active oil rigs in North  Dakota and approval rating for current president.

Again, remember: this moratorium is for six months. In the oil business, this can be a lifetime for some folks.

(I'm betting the moratorium won't last six months. Maybe a month. The meeting with BP/CEO will be first step in moving forward; starting process to end moratorium especially if oil flow is slowing. I can see a compromise: BP agrees to additional claims payments, and administration agrees to let BP back to drilling in the gulf with "stricter adherence to safety standards." )

On another note, Louisiana leaders say that the moratorium could cost Louisiana 100,000 jobs -- just about the time the 400,000 temporary census workers complete their work. Wow -- not a pretty jobs picture.