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Maguire Energy Institute associate director Dr. Bernard L. Weinstein weighs in on oil production in the Gulf.
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Again so it's been more than two years since the BP deep water horizon spill in the gulf in the drilling industry is still reeling.
Oil production the area is down about 15% since 2010 according to Department of Energy estimates.
Bernard Weinstein is associate director Maguire energy institute an adjunct professor at southern Methodist university's Cox school of business.
You -- study in the area studying government policy since since the spell will be found.
What we do know that after the spill in the moratorium there was a serious negative economic impact -- Gulf Coast communities.
Unemployment was way up we have idle rigs a lot of them went off to other -- locations some of them and never come back.
The good news is that slowly production is improving and we are getting the issuance of drilling permits.
But the administration would have us believe that things are back to normal in the gulf because they say we'll look at the number of -- -- have been issued this year.
But in fact drilling activity isn't back to where was -- you gotta go behind those numbers to really examine what's going on what are these different rigs doing.
And very few of the rigs in operation today are actually exploring.
For new reservoirs.
Or drilling additional.
Holes into existing reservoirs.
-- and this is my concern.
The Gulf of Mexico produces about 30% of the nation's oil there is tremendous untapped potential.
And now we have a series of regulations.
That are very very opaque it takes a long long time to get a permit.
And if we don't get more transparency.
-- that permitting process we're gonna see a sub optimal level of production in the gulf.
Beyond the others I would say was that you know we -- an oil company in the that made -- so it makes sense that we should have more regulation that we should be doing this more slowly it's better for the environment how would you respond.
I would respond that.
That company's most of the company's indeed all the companies in the Gulf of Mexico today they're adhering to the new regulations.
We have new safety requirements that far exceed anything that we've had in the past.
And I don't want to make an excuse for the macondo blowout that was a serious serious accident.
But if you considered that drilling in the Gulf of Mexico has been going on for more than sixty years and that was the first the serious accident we've ever had.
I think the administration's reaction.
Was in fact an over reaction we really didn't need to shut down production for six months right and if we hadn't done that -- -- we've come back to a permanent process that was -- that.
That resulted in these permits being issued more quickly.
We would actually be seeing lower oil prices today -- we're -- it's it's great that prices have dropped from where they were a couple of months ago I don't we have the potential.
To produce a lot more oil in the United States not only from the Gulf of Mexico but offshore we've got these new.
You oil shale fields that are being developed it's not inconceivable that we could become close to energy independent in the not too distant future.
Is there compromise position that maybe the regulations stays in place but the permitting process speeds up I think its most important to speed up that determining process and also the speed up.
The process that precedes the permit and mean determining processes.
-- this kind of enshrined in statute but there's a a whole review process that goes on.
Before a prospect is deemed permit -- don't wanna get terribly technical on this discussion.
But it used to take thirty to sixty days.
To get a permit and today it's taking anywhere from ninety to 350 basis it's not good for the industry OK a passionate argument thank you.
