Crude Oil Bore-a-torium

In the year since the Deepwater Horizon blowout, conflicting and confusing messages have come from the White House regarding the direction of America’s domestic energy industry. Amid political unrest abroad and the skyrocketing price of imported crude oil, the Administration has with one hand beckoned the domestic industry to narrow the gap between our production and consumption; with the other, it has signed into effect legislation making it prohibitive to do so. The US government reflexively put the kibosh on new deepwater drilling permits for the six months following the events of last April. While dozens of shallow water permits have been issued since, this week saw the Obama Administration issue its ninth Gulf deepwater drilling permit since the moratorium was lifted in October 2010. However Washington has failed to project one loud and clear message, much to the dismay of oil companies attempting to economically develop resources at home. Download here