offshore oil drilling

One Democratic talking point about offshore oil is that it won't be brought to market for many years even if we start now. Eric Bolling, a trader writing for thestreet.com, gives us this interesting bit of information (emphasis added):
 

A Congressman followed my segment and suggested that drilling wouldn't help for 10 years or more. I know this is absolutely untrue, so I called Transocean, the biggest driller in the world. An officer of the company told me that depending on the location of the drilling, oil could be realized in as little as a year.

Ultra-deepwater fields might produce in 3-5 years. For the most remote locations, without any prior infrastructure support, that barrel may require a 4-6 year window. I suggested 8 years and he said that he could not envision a situation where it would require more than 6 years to bring a barrel out of the ocean floor.

This is a complete deal-breaker for one of the Democrats' favorite talking points.

This is huge.

In February of this year, the L.A. Times wrote this about the budget crisis in California: California's budget shortfall has swollen to $16 billion from $14.5 billion, according to the state's chief budget analyst, who says the governor's proposal for closing the deficit is so flawed that her office took the rare step of drafting an alternative state spending plan for legislators to consider.

The plan offered by Legislative Analyst Elizabeth G. Hill, whom lawmakers of both parties look to for advice on fiscal matters, calls on lawmakers to raise taxes by at least $2.7 billion. It urges them to reject Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's plans for a 10% across-the-board reduction in state spending, suggesting that such an approach is short-sighted. Today's San Diego Union Tribune had this to say about Schwarzenegger's response to the Republican call for offshore oil drilling - an activity which could provide much-needed income to the state of California:

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger may like John McCain as a presidential candidate, but not enough to drop his opposition to offshore oil drilling off the California coast.

The governor told reporters Wednesday that the state would maintain its long-held stance against offshore drilling, despite the positions taken this week by both the Arizona senator and President Bush. He also suggested that scrambling for new sources of crude oil in response to the recent drastic upturn in fuel prices represented a step backward at a time when America needs to move forward in its quest for energy independence.

A federal moratorium on new oil drilling off most U.S. coastal waters has been in effect since 1981. McCain on Tuesday proposed lifting that ban as part of his energy policy if elected president.

Bush followed suit Wednesday in Washington, releasing a statement urging Congress to lift the ban to allow the United States to boost its domestic oil production.

Schwarzenegger's response: Get out. He said he was willing to hear new ideas to ease the energy crunch, but lifting the offshore drilling ban wasn't among them. “We're serious about that, and we're not going to change that,” he said.

Schwarzenegger made his remarks moments after delivering a keynote speech at the BIO International Convention at the San Diego Convention Center in which he touted California's place as a world leader in the biotech industry.

The governor used the biotech gathering of scientific minds and venture capitalists to insist that America needed to look for new answers to the long-standing problem of providing affordable energy, including finding “the will to push Detroit and say, 'You make better cars (that can meet) better standards.'

“It's not about going back; it's about going forward. I'm looking for the new deal,” he said.

He also chastised the federal government for failing to move on long-term solutions to the energy problem.

“Washington did not make a plan 10 years ago to make us energy-independent,” he said. “Now, we need to make a plan.

“Anyone who's looking for a solution this year won't find one.”

H/T to Ozzie Nick O'Sullivan for the image.

Cross-posted at Lagomorphic Tendencies