Coasts

Any attempt by the new Democratic administration and/or the Democratic Congress to reinstate the expired moratorium on oil and natural gas drilling off the East and West coasts would be “crazy,” said ExxonMobil CEO Rex W. Tillerson last Thursday.

Any attempt by the new Democratic administration and/or the Democratic Congress to reinstate the moratorium on oil and gas drilling off the East and West coasts would be “crazy,” said ExxonMobil CEO Rex W. Tillerson Thursday.

Determining the amount of damage inflicted on energy infrastructure located onshore and offshore the Texas and Louisiana coasts proved difficult Monday as the area began its painful recovery from Hurricane Ike’s impact. The Category Two hurricane slammed into Galveston, TX, around 2 a.m. Saturday, and its winds apparently destroyed at least 10 offshore production platforms. The biggest problem facing the Gulf Coast was a lack of power — a problem that could take up to four weeks to remedy, officials said.

The Senate Appropriations Committee Thursday approved a Republican amendment that authorizes up to $10 million for the Interior Department’s Minerals Management Service to conduct a seismic inventory of oil and natural gas resources in the eastern Gulf of Mexico. Florida senators have vowed to do everything in their power to block the proposal on the Senate floor.

Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Babineaux Blanco filed a complaint in federal court last Thursday seeking to block oil and natural gas Lease Sale 200 off the coasts of Texas and Louisiana that is scheduled for Aug. 16. The legal action came only days after Interior Department’s Minerals Management Service (MMS) said it would proceed with the sale as scheduled, despite Blanco’s objections.

Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Babineaux Blanco filed a complaint in federal court Thursday seeking to block oil and natural gas Lease Sale 200 off the coasts of Texas and Louisiana that is scheduled for Aug. 16. The legal action came only days after Interior Department’s Minerals Management Service (MMS) said it would proceed with the sale as scheduled, despite Blanco’s objections.

Following an announcement by the Interior Department’s Minerals Management Service (MMS) Monday that Lease Sale 200 off the coasts of Texas and Louisiana will proceed as scheduled on Aug. 16, Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Babineaux Blanco pledged to take immediate action to block the proposed sale in court.

The East and Gulf Coasts could receive as much as 9.7 Bcf/d in new LNG deliveries from five projects, including two expansions and three new LNG import terminals, that were approved by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in its regular meeting Thursday.

Liquefied natural gas (LNG) receipt terminal development along the Mexican and California coasts has spurred the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) to take measures to create market diversity and stimulate LNG importation.