Drilling for Oil off Virginia's Shores

Monday, the Interior Department proposed a plan to allow gas and oil drilling in federal waters near Virginia. Post writers David Fahrenthold and Steven Mufson examine the environmental, political and business impact of the proposal.

Mufson and Fahrenthold were online Tuesday, May 1 at 2 p.m. ET to take your questions.

A transcript follows.

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Steven Mufson: Hi. David Fahrenthold and I have been writing about the Interior Department's new five-year plan for oil and gas drilling on the Outer Continental Shelf, which includes a proposal for leasing 2.9 million acres off Virginia's coast. And we're ready to answer your questions about this.

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Washingotn, D.C.: I never understood the argument against this. Why not use our own oil resources first, and not go begging around the world to some of the worst regimes for the liquid that fuels our economy?

Steven Mufson: Good question. In general, we have used our resources first and once upon a time the United States was able to supply most of the world's oil. But the United States no longer produces enough to be self sufficient. Even if we drilled everywhere on the Outer Continental Shelf, we'd still need to import oil and gas. Right now we produce a little less than half of what we consume.

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Phoenicia, N.Y.: If drilling off Va. coast will help people like myself who live outside cities to buy what is necessary for sustaining life by reducing the cost, I approve wholeheartedly. I am 80 years old and need to drive 23 miles just for food supplies. There is no place that I can go without using my car. Heating and gas cost for the home is outrageous. My husband is 83 and cannot afford to leave his menial job. Cannot have health ins., pay for meds, and keep up with utilities with costs as they are now just on SS. Shame on this country for allowing these conditions

Steven Mufson: Part of our energy dilemma is that our entire way of life relies heavily on driving from one place to another, heating or air conditioning our homes and doing these things at a reasonable cost. And that is why public opinion in some states, like Florida and Virginia, has been shifting. The desire for more oil and gas supplies is eroding opposition to offshore drilling, but the opposition is still strong.

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Rockville, Md.: I do think it is wise to let our offshore oil stay in the ground while we can buy oil on the international market. Best to save it for the next century. But why do so many think drilling will be a problem? They do it in many places where it is quite safe.

David Fahrenthold: The environmental concerns about oil and gas exploration, as opposed to extraction, are that chemicals used to cool or lubricate the drill bits will wind up in the ocean, and be toxic to marine life. If there is ever actual extraction of oil or gas, there would be a new set of concerns, including spills from rigs or pipelines. Some people also worry about what will happen on land -- if oil draws people to the Eastern Shore, you could see new development in a place that remains fairly rural and wild.

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Arlington, Va.: Will Virginia get any revenue from the extraction of oil or gas from this province (assuming they find any)?

Steven Mufson: The Interior Department's plan covers drilling in federal waters, which start 3 miles from shore (except in Texas, where they start out further because of a quirk of history). So any royalties from oil and gas development goes to the U.S. Treasury. BUT, last year Congress agreed to give coastal states a big chunk of the royalties for drilling in two newly opened areas of the Gulf of Mexico. The coastal states will get 37.5 percent of the royalties from those new areas and 12.5 percent will go to a conservation fund for coastal areas. The federal government will still get half. So that may have set a precedent for other coastal areas.

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Silver Spring, Md.: As a person who drives a Geo Metro I am appalled that our beaches will be threatened to supply our "addiction" to oil. Shouldn't we be trying to conserve? He was very unpopular but the measures passed by Jimmy Carter reduced this country's consumption of oil. Maybe there should be huge taxes on SUVs so that people will not be so eager to drive them. One oils spill will destroy the fragile environment for decades. Let's cut back on our usage of oil first.

David Fahrenthold: You also hear environmentalists making this kind of argument: that the whole idea of new oil/gas exploration is bad on its face, never mind what impacts it might be in Virginia. I think, though, that the reply from the petroleum industry might be that there aren't any renewable energy sources that can take the place of fossil fuels right now. Certainly, conservation measures --like driving smaller cars -- can make a difference. But we're still a long way from having an auto fleet that can run without fossil fuels.

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Alexandria, Va.: What has to happen for this proposal to go into effect? Congressional or Virginia GA approval? What time frame are we looking at?

Steven Mufson: It will take quite a bit for this proposal to go into effect. First, Congress has to lift the moratorium on oil and gas drilling off the Atlantic and Pacific coasts. That moratorium has been written into, I believe, the Interior Department appropriations bill every year since 1982. There is no sign that Congress will alter that. Second, President Bush would then have to issue an executive order. After that, Interior has to offer companies leases in the area. Then the companies need to line up the equipment. Interior says it hopes to lease offshore Virginia in late 2011. That would be the very earliest, if it ever happens at all.

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Katy, Tex.: The environmentalists concerns over toxic fluids entering the water are just a straw argument to stop any activity. Under-balanced drilling and treatment when the drilling fluids are exchanged for production fluids have eliminated these concerns for quite awhile.

David Fahrenthold: You may be right that the pollution-capturing technology will render these concerns moot. For now, though, I think environmentalists are still worried about accidental leaks or spills. They make the point that, even if the danger of a toxic event is low, the resources in this stretch of ocean (including larval blue crabs and rockfish) and on the Virginia shore are so valuable that it's not worth the risk. If this proposal goes forward, I think you're likely to see a lot of effort by scientists to try to learn more about the risks to wildlife in the ocean and on shore.

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Arlington, Va.: Isn't it true that one of the concerns of drilling on the Outer Continental Shelf off Virginia is that there are large methane hydrate deposits that the vibration from rigs may release ? And, while this is an enormous environmental concern, it actually poses a fatal hazard to the drilling crews ?

Will the extraction costs (assuming there is any significant oil and gas) be a lot higher because of this ?

Steven Mufson: I'm not aware of this. Drilling crews seem to be more than capable of functioning in similar geological areas and extremely difficult conditions around the world. I'm sure they'll be able to manage this area as well.

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"Part of our energy dilemma": So the solution isn't to...say, lose the Stupid User Vehicles? Or knock off the idiot exurban sprawl?

Let me put on those "no global warming, no oil spill from offshore rigs" rose colored glasses my fellow Americans wear...they're here somewhere...got it!

Yeah! Lets drill us some oil! Shut them evirowhackos up! My Imperial Canyonero with the bowling alley/Olympic pool option package needs gas, baybee! How else am I going to commute from my 10 bedroom home in West Va to downtown!

Now start drilling off Eastern Shore you commies!

This country deserves all the problems it has.

Steven Mufson: I wouldn't express it this way, but I would say that energy efficiency could do a lot to reduce energy consumption in the United States. Often the cheapest, cleanest and fastest way to meet our energy needs is to simply reduce those needs.

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Rockville, Md. :" Why not use our own oil resources first..."

Is this a serious question? I thought that one never ever uses stored resources first, just saves them until they can not be bought at a reasonable cost. Am I wrong?

My background is living on a farm where one stored vegetables in a root cellar. In the early fall, one buys what is needed because the price is not so high.

Steven Mufson: I don't think the oil industry really thinks this way. It looks at the areas of the world that are accessible -- for political or other reasons -- and explores in the places that it thinks have the best prospects based on size and the expense of getting the oil and gas out of the ground.

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Arlington, Va.: How much oil are we talking about off the coast of Virginia, all together? I've seen estimates that all the oil projected to be in ANWR, for instance, would only provide a few weeks worth of energy to the U.S.

Steven Mufson: No one really knows for sure what's out there. Sometimes promising areas turn out to be disappointing. There has no drilling and little to no seismic work done. But the Interior Department estimates that the offshore Virginia area could hold 56 million barrels of oil and 327 billion cubic feet of gas.

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Arlington, Va.: Why is it that people cannot face the reality that we are entering the waning years of consuming an energy resource that millions of years of ancient biological and geological processes left for us? It's okay (in my opinion) to go to extreme lengths to suck every last bit of valuable substance out of the earth and burn it up. But, then what? Most people think something magical will happen and we will figure out a way to conjure an energy source as dense and convenient as fossil fuels out of something. I believe it is wishful thinking. But, I don't have kids, and am old and probably won't live to see the hardship that the next generation will have to endure because of the way we squandered the resources that time had given us. It used to be that 'the press' would analyze these type of issues and people actually thought some about what kind of world they would leave to their offspring. Again, I'm glad I won't live to see it, but it is sad.

Steven Mufson: There has been tremendous controversy over whether oil resources have "peaked." Thanks in large part to technology, oil production has held up surprisingly well. And there are many areas, such as Iraq, that hold huge oil reserves but are hard to get to for obvious reasons.

But sooner or later it will be true that oil reserves will decline. Will technology provide some other answer? It's hard to say. That's one reason of many reasons -- others being economic and environmental -- why energy efficiency makes sense whether that means more efficient lighting, better auto mileage or more efficient appliances. We've been moving that direction for 25 years and probably will continue to move in that direction.

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Arlington, Va.: If the seismic studies show that the probably and possible reserves on the OCS are less than the wildly optimistic USGS estimates, can we expect to see the U.S. get serious about addressing peak oil?

The GAO report (PDF) on this subject

discussed the need to clarify the reserve estimates. Hopefully if we can get the data we can start moving on what will be a long term project as the DOE report (PDF) discusses.

Steven Mufson: It's extremely doubtful that Virginia's reserves will alter the big picture for world oil supplies. Long range energy planning shouldn't be affected one way or the other.

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Washington, D.C.: Could you please reiterate to all of your readers that passage of this proposal would not mean that oil platforms would start popping up off the Virginia Beach shoreline?

In fact, the proposal only calls for studying the efficiency of extracting potential oil and gas reserves on the Outer North American continental shelf. The key words being "studying" and "potential." Since actual deep drilling pilot tests have not been conducted off the coasts (except in limited areas off the Pacific coasts where reserves appear plentiful), it's not assured that the reserves are even there off Virginia. There are estimates of the volume of reserves there, but they're just guesses based on other parts of the world. You did mention that in your article, but your focus was on potential impact and environmental concerns, which by current drilling standards, would be extremely minimal.

Also, could you please comment on the safety and environmentally friendly standards that most drillers and oil companies now follow to limit or eliminate impact. Your tales of destroyed ecosystems, massive oil spills and extinct species are tales from 20 years ago. As with everyone else, the oil industry has entered the 21st century, and they are much more aware of the impacts of drilling, and how to reduce impact to near zero.

David Fahrenthold: To answer the last part of your question: just like the estimates of how much oil/gas is actually available on the Va. continental shelf, the estimates of this project's environmental impact are in their earliest, sketchiest stages. Even the most basic questions about what wildlife is out there--where larval blue crabs are most prevalent, for instance--still have only general answers. But I think you're seeing environmental groups start from the presumption, rightly or wrongly, that they'd rather keep the status quo of no exploration.

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Arlington, Va.: You Said: "Virginia area could hold 56 million barrels of oil "

Holy Cow! Is this a misprint? You do realize that the world consumes 85 million barrels a day and the U.S. alone about 20 million barrels ?

All this fuss over less than three days supply for the U.S.?!

Steven Mufson: No, it's not a misprint. But it's also a number to which I wouldn't attach too much importance. Part of Interior's five-year plan is to do some preliminary work to figure out what the potential is in that area. In general, though, it takes a lot of modest sized oil discoveries to keep the world economy functioning.

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Boston: Does Interior have studies showing potential reserves in areas like mine, off of the New England coast? And if so, what's to stop calls for drilling in other coastal areas other than Virginia?

Steven Mufson: I believe Interior has what it calls estimates of the OCS inventory for the entire country. I was just trying to find it online without luck so far. But there is nothing to stop calls for drilling in coastal areas off states other than Virginia. But Congress and the sitting president are able to stop those calls from being answered if that's their inclination.

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David Fahrenthold: That's all for this afternoon. Thanks for chatting with us!

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