Bob McCarty Writes

Over the years, I developed a deep respect of and appreciation for the U.S. oil and natural gas industry and count several friends among those who’ve earned their livelihood in the oil patch. No doubt, the blame for my fossil fuels friendliness lies in the fact I grew up in northwest Oklahoma during the ’60s [...]

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News that the Central Gulf of Mexico Oil and Gas Lease Sale 213, held today in New Orleans, attracted nearly $1 billion in high bids, according to the Department of the Interior’s Minerals Management Service, had leaders in the nation’s oil and natural gas industry excited and calling upon the federal government to replicate the [...]

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In testimony delivered in Houston today, officials with the American Petroleum Institute said the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s proposed new ozone pollution standards would exact significant costs on consumers, jobs and the economy without delivering commensurate benefits.  Furthermore, they said there was no solid scientific justification for imposing the more stringent standards. “Without a clear [...]

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A pro-drilling grassroots effort launched Sept. 9 appears to have paid off, according to my friends in the oil and gas industry.  This morning, officials with the Interior Department’s Minerals Management Service announced the agency is proposing to open new offshore areas to oil and natural gas development in its next five-year plan. The inclusion [...]

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Oil and natural gas industry officials were cautiously optimistic about their prospects Sept. 23 after House Democrats allowed an offshore drilling ban to expire.  After three and a half months of waiting for assurances from members of Congress, it appears those same officials might be on the verge of seeing their worst fears come true. [...]

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“I do not believe at this point in time that there are any proposals being made to reinstate the moratoria across the board,” said House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) in response to a reporter’s question about his plans regarding a quarter-century-old ban on offshore oil and gas drilling that was lifted last year. Hoyer’s [...]

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It seems the groundswell of public outcry was finally heard by the idiots (a.k.a., “House Democrats”) in Washington, D.C.  Late this afternoon, they announced they will finally allow a quarter-century-old offshore drilling ban to expire, according to an Associated Press news alert. It began on this blog with a July 23 post in which I [...]

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