Is the Permitorium Coming To An End?

Updates

July 17, 2012: oil leak off-shore UK -- [if link breaks, googles, the Osprey] -- let's see how the Brits handle the post-spill response. Something tells me they (the Brits) won't close down drilling in the North Sea for any length of time.

April 8, 2011: Chevron says the permitorium continues.

March 28, 2011: There is no denying that the permitorium continues. CNBC today reports on a conference in New Orleans to see just exactly how fast a return to drilling in the Gulf will commence.

The reporter in New Orleans noted that just before the spill, there were 20 deep water drilling rigs in the Gulf and a push suggesting there would be 40 deep water rigs in the Gulf soon. Now there are only 15 deep water rigs in the Gulf. The most optimistic reports are that drilling will get back on track the second half of this year. The CNBC reporter at the conference sounded less optimistic. The reporter said any improvement in the Gulf would be a "slow bleed higher." Pretty sad commentary on our administration's ability to feel the pain of consumers paying $4.00/gallon of gasoline.

Original Post

A fifth deep water drilling permit has been issued for the Gulf of Mexico.

The US Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation, and Enforcement approved a fifth deepwater drilling permit for exploration in the Gulf of Mexico since the lifting of a moratorium imposed following the Macondo well accident and oil spill in the gulf.

BOEMRE said the latest deepwater exploration permit under its new regulatory regime went to Chevron USA Inc. for its Well No. 1 on Keathley Canyon Block 736 in 6,740 ft of water 216 miles off Louisiana.

It was being drilled when the moratorium was imposed. Initial activity on it began in March 2010 and was suspended June 9. 

I don't follow the Gulf closely enough to know if this is "big news" or not, but it certainly seems so. These first five permits have been issued in the past ten days or so, suggesting the process is gaining momentum.

With regard to the permitorium, this is a great op-ed in the Wall Street Journal back in November, 2010.

One of my favorite authors is JRR Tolkien, a philologist, and editor of the Oxford English Dictionary. It is a real hoot for me to see new words enter the lexicon, and it appears "permitorium" is a new word. It's not quite a portmanteau but comes close. It has been used enough in the print media to justify being added to the dictionary, but it's hard to say. It has been added to the oil industry lexicon.