Great News for the Bakken -- Bad News for US Consumer

Shell Alaska (oil) will not drill in the Alaskan Arctic in 2011. The EPA remanded ("took back") the air waiver that it had previously granted Shell to drill in the Alaskan Arctic.

So now Shell will wait at least until 2012 to drill.

Alaska receives 90 percent of its general fund revenue from the petroleum industry, and state officials aren't happy with this turn of events.

U.S. Sen. Mark Begich, Dem-Alaska, blamed the Obama administration and the EPA.

"Their foot dragging means the loss of another exploration season in Alaska, the loss of nearly 800 direct jobs and many more indirect jobs," Begich said. "That doesn't count the millions of dollars in contracting that won't happen either at a time when our economy needs the investment."

The Alaskans voted out the longest serving Republican member of the US Senate of all time when they voted Mark Begich into office. Anything to destroy the domestic oil industry. I guess some actions have consequences.

It gets worse. The trans-Alaska pipeline must meet adequate capacity to keep it viable. If oil volume decreases below a certain point, it risks freezing and won't flow. As it is, the pipeline now operates at about one-third capacity, and operators have looked to offshore sources to keep the pipeline viable.
Alaska governor Sean Parnell noted:

... it was unfathomable that a company could buy federal leases but not get onto them within five years.

"It's also unfathomable that they cannot get an air permit after five years when they can get one in the Gulf of Mexico within months," he said.

I think under the current administration that is no longer accurate. The Gulf is under a "permitorium" for any further drilling.

It appears the Alaskans have re-elected a very courageous, prescient, and outspoken critic of the Obama administration:

Republican U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski said actions taken by the Obama administration will result in higher gasoline prices and a loss of jobs and revenue.

Well, duh.

Now, go back and look at the graph at this site, and overlay this Shell news on the Alaskan downward sloping line.

It's just a matter of time before North Dakota out-produces Alaska.

Unless the EPA halts fracking.

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If you've read this far, you might as well know that GE was granted a waiver from complying with the EPA's new rules for greenhouse gas emissions from any new or expanded power plants. GE was granted the first exemption under the new rules.

The Obama administration will spare a stalled power plant project in California from the newest federal limits on greenhouse gases and conventional air pollution, U.S. EPA says in a new court filing that marks a policy shift in the face of industry groups and Republicans accusing the agency of holding up construction of large industrial facilities.

According to a declaration by air chief Gina McCarthy, officials reviewed EPA policies and decided it was appropriate to "grandfather" projects such as the Avenal Power Center, a proposed 600-megawatt power plant in the San Joaquin Valley, so they are exempted from rules such as new air quality standards for smog-forming nitrogen dioxide (NO2).

It should be noted that the GE/CEO was recently (like last week) appointed President Obama's new economic czar. And President Obama needs California electoral votes in 2012.

This is not rocket science.