Posted by Tina
As you read this story keep in mind the recent democrat claim that oil companies have not drilled on lands where they currently hold leases.
US drillers to get $1bn court award, by Sheila McNulty in Houston FinancialTimes.com (UK)
A US federal appeals court ruled yesterday that 11 oil and gas companies should receive more than $1bn awarded to them in 2006 after the government effectively changed the terms of leases to drill off the California coast. *** The US Court of Appeals was upholding a 2006 ruling that the government had breached the leases when changes in federal law materially interfered with the companies’ efforts to develop the oil and gas reserves off California. *** The case points to the difficulties US oil and gas companies have developing oil and gas resources in the US. *** Even when acreage is legally open to production, restrictive regulations about how properties can be developed have made it impossible for companies to follow through. *** The US government had estimated the area contained more than 1bn barrels of oil equivalent.
Meanwhile theres news out of Santa Barbara:
LOS ANGELES The Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors considered a measure Tuesday that would support offshore oil drilling, decades after an infamous 1969 oil spill coated the coastline and spawned the modern environmental movement. While the board has no power to approve new drilling, officials debated whether to send a letter asking Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to change state policy and allow oil exploration and extraction in the county. – AP