Friday, February 25, 2011

The Energy Policy

I paid $3.159/gal in Houston yesterday for regular gas! From the sounds of things it won't get less any time soon even though the price is being driven more by panic than actual supply and demand.

Where is the public outrage?

Looking at the drilling rig count, there are currently 25 rigs working in the Gulf of Mexico. These all appear to drilling development wells - these are wells into an existing reservoir that enhance recovery. None of them are exploratory rigs - rigs searching for new reservoirs! The rig count is some 20 rigs less than one year ago. With rigs leaving the Gulf, it will take several years for the production to recover - if it ever does. Rigs that have left will not be easy to get back.

As you should have learned during Katrina, the Gulf of Mexico provides some 25% of the USA's needs. What will the price of gasoline be when production from the Gulf starts falling off?

1 comment:

AisforRandom said...

The outrage has been beaten out of us. I didn't buy milk yesterday because I needed gas. 3.29 a gallon. Boone, NC mountain town