There is a Catch-22 says Speaker on Natural Gas Exploration - 6/07/06

It is silly to talk about the exploration of natural gas off the Virginia coast when the harvest of energy is not allowed. 

The Virginia legislature passed a bill this year allowing for the exploration for natural gas of the coast of Virginia.  But Governor Timothy M. Kaine insisted the language lifting the ban on offshore energy production be stripped. 

Johnnie Burton who is over the Interior Department agency that administers offshore energy questioned the practicality of exploration before making a decision on production.  If Shell oil commits large sums of money to explore for natural gas off the Virginia coastline they would want to harvest any natural gas that was found. 

It is estimated 11.7 trillion cubic feet of natural gas and 1.2 billion barrels of oil could be off the mid Atlantic coast according to the Interior Departments Mineral Management Service.  It has been over 20 year since the last exploration of the mid Atlantic coast.

House Resources on Energy and Mineral Resources Jack Coleman said the states lack a say in whether drilling off the Atlantic will occur because of a moratorium on offshore drilling off the U.S. coastline.  The states do not currently share in the royalty revenues from drilling.

Rep. Richard W. Promdo Republican of CA as sponsored a bill that would provide states these incentives.  This bill also would change Virginia’s offshore boundaries which is currently limited to a 6.1 million acre triangle shaped area.   

President of the National Defense Council Foundation Milton Copulos says imported oil cost the U.S. $825 billion dollars a year.  He says we must do anything possible to find energy or we could soon face a global ware over energy. 

Summarized Source
Times-Dispatch
Greg Edwards
June 6, 2006

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