2 Articles:

Despite Pressure for Oil, New Wells Unlikely in Washington State
By Christopher Dunagan - June 29, 2008

When it comes to drilling for oil, Washington state is far down on
the list of places where petroleum companies wish to explore.

"We would probably be last, or next to last," said Ray Lasmanis, a
geologist with the Washington Department of Natural Resources. "The
geology is too broken up and it does not have the kind of sedimentary
basins they have off the coast of California."

A move to lift the offshore moratorium beyond 50 miles was defeated
last week in the House Interior Appropriations Subcommittee, chaired
by U.S. Rep. Norm Dicks, D-Belfair. Dicks said the issue, backed by
the Bush administration, is likely to be raised again before the full
Appropriations Committee. About 18 billion barrels of oil may lie in
areas subject to the moratorium. It could take 12 to 15 years to
explore and bring this oil to market. If the amounts are accurate and
the entire area were developed, it would provide about 18 months of
supply for the United States.

But President Bush's call for lifting a moratorium on offshore oil
drilling is getting little traction in Congress, according to U.S.
Rep. Jay Inslee, D- Bainbridge Island.

"Although it is attractive as a sound bite, it is a bit of a
diversion," Inslee said. "There are better alternatives for drilling
on dry land."

Inslee has been pushing for a federal energy program that would move
the U.S. away from oil consumption. He said he has recently become
aware of some short-term measures that could "tamp down on
speculation in the oil market" and possibly ease gasoline prices.

U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., is on board with the short-term
measures. She complained on Friday that Senate Republicans blocked a
bill that would "rein in excessive speculation" when they tried to
attach an amendment to open up offshore drilling.

Even if industry were given free rein, it is not clear that companies
would line up to drill offshore. A recent report by the federal
Mineral Management Services estimates that areas offshore of the U.S.
where drilling is not allowed contain roughly 18 billion barrels of
crude oil. That's less than the country's proved reserves, including
inland areas, and isn't much more than 2 percent of the world's
proved reserves.

Of the 18 billion barrels that might exist in untapped offshore
areas, Washington and Oregon together contain an estimated 0.4
billion barrels, or a little more than 2 percent of the reserves
declared off-limits. That compares with 2.08 billion barrels in
Northern California, 2.31 in Central California and 5.58 in Southern
California.

For the Atlantic Coast, the estimate is 3.82 billion barrels. For the
eastern Gulf of Mexico, untapped regions contain an estimated 3.65
billion barrels.

Washington Geology

Geology that makes Washington and Oregon vulnerable to a massive
earthquake does not lend itself to the formation of large oil
deposits, geologists say.

The largest oil deposits on the West Coast appear in California,
where the San Andreas fault splits the ground in a more vertical
alignment, said DNR's Lasmanis.

Western Washington does contain some crustal folds, where deposits of
natural gas and coal can form in a terrestrial environment. Small
natural gas supplies have been developed near Ferndale, close to the
Canadian border.

The greater potential for natural gas may lie in Eastern Washington,
said David Norman, another DNR geologist. Within the last two years,
exploratory wells were drilled by EnCana Corp., a Canadian company,
in Grant and Yakima counties. Delta Petroleum Corp. of Denver
currently is drilling in Klickitat County. Most of the wells are more
than 2.5 miles deep.

So far, the results are uncertain, Norman said, and no plans for
production have been announced.

Still, interest in gas is high. In 2005 and 2006, the DNR put its
lands in Central Washington up for auction and took in $11 million.
In addition, the state is raking in more than $1 million in annual
lease fees. Most of that goes into a trust fund for schools. If
production were to occur, the state would receive about 12 percent in
royalties.

California Concerns

California contains 79 active offshore leases approved before the
moratorium. Estimated proved and unproved reserves in those areas
total about 1.47 billion barrels.

Active wells in California produce more than 75,000 barrels of oil
per day, compared with a total U.S. consumption of about 20 million
barrels per day.

Many Californians, including Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger,
oppose any more offshore drilling.

Even if the offshore drilling ban were lifted, industry officials
estimate it would take 12 to 15 years to develop wells.

Tupper Hull, spokesman for the Western States Petroleum Association,
said the industry does not wish to fight an upstream battle.

"Our view is for the last several decades, the people of California
have expressed pretty strong views that they do not support natural
gas and oil exploration," he said. "It is important to note that, at
least here on the West Coast, that it will take more than lifting the
congressional moratorium. In addition to state and local constraints,
a number of marine sanctuaries would restrict development."

Even without considering risks of an oil spill, environmental damage
from offshore drilling includes onshore infrastructure, such as
pipelines, water pollution from drilling cuttings, and large amounts
of contaminated water brought up out of an oil well.

Dicks is working with officials in the Minerals Management Service to
figure out the production potential for existing federal leases
across the country, mainly on lands managed by the Department of
Interior. House Democrats are drafting a "use-it-or-lose-it" bill
that would require development of oil fields inland before approving
offshore leases.

Short-term Measures

Drilling for oil in new offshore areas is neither a short- nor a long-
term fix to the energy crisis, said Inslee, and more oil production
would only accelerate global warming. Technology to take advantage of
alternative energy need to be put into play with the help of
Congress, he said.

He did add that speculation needs to be brought under control.

"I was rather skeptical that speculation could be the reason for this
latest run-up," Inslee said, "but I've come to believe that it is."

Loopholes in oil futures markets allow for wild speculation by
investors who never intend to take delivery of oil, Inslee said.
Several loopholes - such as allowing secret trades and permitting
investors to control excessive holdings - came about in 2000 and were
exploited by Enron in the electricity market, he said.

"What Enron did is chump change compared to the speculation going on
now," Inslee said.

Congress is working on at least nine bills to curb speculation. They
include making futures trades more transparent, possibly requiring
transactions within regulated markets, and limiting margins so that
speculators are forced to gamble with more of their own money.

Cantwell cited financial analysts who contend that controlling
markets would have the effect of bringing down the cost of oil to the
marginal cost of production - perhaps around $60 per barrel instead
of the record $140 quoted this past week. She said she would resume
the fight against excessive speculation and possible market
manipulation following the congressional recess.

Some officials, including James Newsome, president and CEO of the New
York Mercantile Exchange, argue that tightening regulations on
markets would have unintended consequences - such as driving
investors to foreign exchange markets. But officials from industries
such as airlines and trucking say something must be done.

"Drilling offshore," said Inslee, "is doomed to failure. I'm not
opposed to drilling. We accept massive drilling on federal land. But
the danger is we'll get wrapped around the minutia of the drilling
issue ... and we're still going to be addicted to oil."

www.kitsapsun.com/news/2008/jun/29/despite-pressure-for-oil-new-wells-
unlikely-in

-----
To say, so far the results of drilling for oil in the Klickitat are
uncertain is bogus at best. They've drilled three holes 2.5 miles
deep, no oil here. High time to look to solar & wind energy & return
our waters.

Teresa Anahuy
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FirstPeoplesNews
-----

Lawmakers argue over a drilling moratorium off the Pacific Coast
By Les Blumenthal - June 29, 2008

WASHINGTON - In the Pacific Ocean off Washington state there are
salmon, halibut and whales. But there apparently isn't much oil or
natural gas. State officials say they haven't "heard a peep" from
anyone wanting to drill off the coast.
Even so, Democratic Rep. Norm Dicks of Belfair is in the middle of
the intense debate over offshore drilling that has gripped Capitol
Hill over the past several weeks.

As chairman of the House Appropriations interior subcommittee, Dicks'
jurisdiction includes the 27-year-old moratorium on drilling along
what's known as the outer continental shelf.

The Republican effort to eliminate the drilling moratorium, aided by
the White House, has disrupted the appropriations process in the
House and is a significant issue on the presidential campaign trail.

"This is purely a political matter," Dicks said in an interview last
week. He was clearly frustrated that the bill he and his staff had
spent weeks developing had suddenly become the flash point between
Democrats and Republicans over what to do to calm the public's anger
over gasoline prices that have shot well above $4 a gallon.

Since taking control of Congress in January 2007, Republicans say,
Democrats have pursued an energy policy that has done nothing to ease
the price at the pump. Republicans are calling for increased domestic
supplies, including allowing drilling along the outer continental
shelf, which is the sloping undersea plain between the continent and
the deep ocean. They also want to open the Arctic National Wildlife
Refugee and additional federal lands to oil and natural gas drilling.

According to industry estimates, federal lands and offshore areas
contain enough recoverable natural gas to meet the heating needs of
60 million households for 160 years, as well as enough oil to produce
gasoline to fuel 60 million cars and fuel oil for 3.1 million
households for 60 years.

Democrats say 80 percent of the outer continental shelf is already
open to leasing. They also say that 68 million acres of land, roughly
the size of Colorado, are already under lease but have not been
developed, and that "we can't drill our way to energy independence."

They quote the Energy Information Administration, part of the federal
Department of Energy as saying offshore drilling wouldn't affect the
price at the pump until 2030, and even then the impact would
be "insignificant."

"People are desperate for a solution, and this isn't it," Dicks
said. "There are thousands of leases that aren't being used. If this
is such an emergency, why aren't they using them?"


NOT SO MUCH OIL HERE


Oil and natural gas resources off the Northwest coast are minuscule
when compared to Florida and California. A 2001 Interior Department
study estimated there might be 2.35 trillion cubic feet of natural
gas off Washington and Oregon. The same study estimated there might
be 180 trillion cubic feet of natural gas in the Gulf of Mexico and
15 trillion cubic feet off California.

Several oil companies expressed an interest in exploring deep-sea
areas off the Northwest coast in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The
Reagan administration, at one point, considered leasing 30,000 acres
for exploration and drilling.

"There isn't much interest in Washington state," said Dave Norman,
the deputy state geologist. "The Washington coast ranks real low in
potential, almost near the bottom."

Norman said exploratory holes and seismic testing off the coast have
never found much, even though there have been oil seeps discovered on
the west side of the Olympic Peninsula.

In Eastern Washington, three deep holes have been drilled in the
Columbia Basin during the past several years, and a new one is being
drilled in Klickitat County.

"They haven't found anything, but they are still studying the
results," said Norman, adding that the holes have been drilled
through 10,000 feet of basalt rock.

Before World War II, there was a field near Rattlesnake Mountain that
produced commercial quantities of natural gas, he said.


'A VERY DIFFICULT POLITICAL ISSUE'


The initial moratorium on offshore drilling covered just Washington
state and Oregon but was later expanded to cover the entire outer
continental shelf, Dicks said.

Republicans have unsuccessfully sought to lift the moratorium over
the years. In 2006, the Republican-controlled House voted to ease the
ban, but the measure stalled in the Senate. "Oil-patch Democrats"
have consistently voted to eliminate the ban, while moderates and
Florida Republicans have opposed such a move.

But given the increasing price of gasoline, vote counting has become
tricky.

"This is a very difficult political issue for some people," Dicks
said.

Earlier this month, presumed Republican presidential nominee John
McCain proposed lifting the ban, and President Bush endorsed the
idea. McCain previously opposed offshore drilling, as had Bush's
brother, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush.

Presumed Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama opposes lifting
the moratorium.

The issue erupted just as Dicks' interior appropriations bill was to
be considered by the full House Appropriations Committee.

With the outcome of the vote on the drilling ban uncertain, the bill
stalled and was rescheduled for consideration after Congress returns
from its Fourth of July recess.

It's unclear whether Democrats have the committee votes to defeat the
Republican effort to eliminate the moratorium. "We are counting,"
Dicks said. "I don't twist arms. I plead with people to do the right
thing."

Asked whether he still expected his bill to come up as planned on
July 9, Dicks said, "It's still scheduled. But obviously schedules
can change."

Last week, Republicans sought to force a vote on the drilling ban by
trying to substitute the interior bill for another appropriations
bill the committee was considering. Chairman Dave Obey, D-Wis.,
abruptly adjourned the meeting and warned later that if Republicans
persisted, then his committee would put off consideration of all
appropriations bills until after the election.

"What they did was a stunt. It was unprecedented in the 32 years I
have been in the House," Dicks said. "I have my fingers crossed that
we can defeat these amendments and go forward with my bill."