DRILLING IN AMERICA MEANS PROSPERITY FOR AMERICANS, NOT TERRORISTS

Gingrich bullish on Energy

http://www.epmag.com/item/Gingrich-Bullish-Energy_107110?utm_source=sp&utm_medium=em&utm_campaign=4812163-September%2020,%202012&utm_term=EP%20Buzz%20Sept%2020%202012%20Auto%20(1)&utm_content=578623&spMailingID=4812163&spUserID=MTc3NzkwMjcwMAS2&spJobID=534

E&P – Steve Toon – Hart Energy – 9/19/2012

Taking on the task, the Noble team discovered that cumulative acres leased on federal lands have declined by 66% since the Reagan administration, from 126 million in 1984 to 39 million in 2010 and by 86% for average acres leased per year, from 9 million annually to 1.4 million.

Basing the premise on returning to 1984 levels of leasing activity on federal lands both onshore and offshore and with the aid of Netherland, Sewell & Associates Inc., Noble determined the government is leaving $785 billion in unrealized royalty revenues over a 30-year period.

What role does energy play in the upcoming election?
Gingrich: Energy is extraordinarily important. It is the number one plank in [Republican candidate Mitt] Romney’s plan for the middle class. It is something people instinctively believe represents opportunity. They identify it with jobs and economic growth, with national security, and lower prices. From their standpoint, it’s a triple win.

Energy itself is a job producer. Look at North Dakota at 3% unemployment. Less expensive energy is a manufacturing jobs producer. So in a state like Ohio, which now has an oil play, a gas play, and a big manufacturing base, you’ve got a lot of positive talking points

Noble: We calculated that if the Alaskan pipeline had been kept full, the government would have made $36.4 billion in lost royalties and bonuses to date and another $295 billion in oil and gas sales that did not happen. Only 30 wells have been drilled total in the past 10 years in Alaska on federal lands. It’s just alarming.

Noble: West Texas was drilled to 10- and five-acre spacing. That’s not necessary today. We can get six to 12 well bores on one small pad site. The Pinedale area [in Wyoming] has shown us that we can have the least amount of disturbance with the most amount of reserves. The time is right. Technical innovation has allowed developers to maximize production of oil and natural gas while minimizing environmental impact.

Nobody in Washington and nobody in the news media has come to grips yet with the degree that this is a change so profound that it restates the game – in jobs, in manufacturing, in foreign exchange, and in national security.

People don’t mind a little subsidy. They don’t mind paying 10% more. But when you tell them you might be paying four times as much, they think it’s crazy.

What do you think America’s energy future will look like in five years?
Gingrich: A lot depends on the election. You have a growing sense of bureaucracy and regulation that is anti-energy, whether it is the Fish and Wildlife Department, the Environmental Protection Agency, or the Interior Department. The continual processes are slowing you down. Then you have litigation effects that also slow you down and raise the price even more.

 

Northwoods Patriots - Standing up for Faith, Family, Country - northwoodspatriotscomm@gmail.com