Drilling Deep

While it has been evident for weeks that the Deepwater Horizon oil spill is a transformative event for the entire energy industry, a widespread sense of confusion following the announcement of a six-month moratorium on deepwater drilling in the Gulf of Mexico leaves its near-term impact largely unclear. If, as some fear, the moratorium drags on past the current six-month timeframe, it could exacerbate the United States’ long-term dependence on imported oil and have potentially significant consequences for the development of regional tanker trade flows. Download here