Slow down shit

HOUSTON — The number of rigs actively exploring for oil and natural gas in the U.S. increased by 12 this week to 1,518.

Houston-based Baker Hughes Inc. said Friday that 969 rigs were exploring for natural gas and 538 for oil. Eleven were listed as miscellaneous. A year ago this week, the rig count stood at 900.

Of the major oil- and gas-producing states, Texas gained 11 rigs, Oklahoma gained five, New Mexico gained two and Colorado gained one. Louisiana lost two rigs and Alaska, Arkansas and West Virginia each lost one. California, North Dakota, Pennsylvania and Wyoming were unchanged.

The rig count tally peaked at 4,530 in 1981, during the height of the oil boom. The
industry posted a record low of 4
This info is from the Huffington Post!

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Salazar Talks Tough on BP From the Daily Beast

At what point do we start taking charges that the Gulf oil leak is “Obama’s Katrina” seriously? Interior Secretary Ken Salazar complained on Sunday that BP had missed “deadline after deadline” in trying to battle the oil spill and that the administration—a month after the leak began—is now ready to “push [BP] out of the way.” However, the Coast Guard commander in charge of fighting the leak says only BP has the knowledge to stop it. The oil company’s latest gambit will be to try to inject heavy mud and then cement into the well; the maneuver, known as the “top kill,” has never been attempted at this depth.

From Politcs Daily:
Government regulators have granted seven permits for various types of drilling and five environmental waivers since President Obama announced a moratorium on offshore drilling projects, the New York Times reports. On May 14, in response to the massive oil spill at a BP well in the Gulf of Mexico, Obama announced a halt to new deepwater drilling projects and the end of the full waiver of environmental review BP received for its Deepwater Horizon rig.

Since the well exploded on April 20, the Department of the Interior has granted 19 environmental waivers for gulf drilling projects and 17 permits, most of which were for work similar to what was happening at Deepwater Horizon. At least six of the permits were for sites deeper and more dangerous than where the BP well continues to gush oil into the gulf.

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said the moratorium was meant to stop permits for new drilling projects, not new work on existing projects. Salazar said his agency has no intention of stopping new oil and gas production in the gulf.

Critics responded that the moratorium is either being openly violated or is too narrowly defined. "We were given the clear impression that these waivers and permits were not being granted," said Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.). "I think the presumption should be that there should be stronger environmental reviews, not weaker."

On Sunday, top administration officials continued to debate the government's next steps in addressing the spill that has now spread into Louisiana's wetlands and, according to Gov. Bobby Jindal, "oiled" 65 miles of the state's coast.


In a press conference in Houston on Sunday, Salazar said he was "angry" that BP had not been more successful at stopping and cleaning up the spill. "If we find they're not doing what they're supposed to be doing, we'll push them out of the way appropriately," he said. Salazar added that he doesn't believe BP knows how to handle the situation.

It's so good the President is trusting but verifying. (snark)