Norway opens Arctic border area to oil drilling

[longknife]

June 20, 2013 - 7:34 AM, By KARL RITTER, Associated Press

STOCKHOLM (AP) — Norway's Parliament has opened up a new area on the fringe of the Arctic Ocean to offshore oil drilling despite protests from opponents who fear catastrophic oil spills in the remote and icy region.
See more at: Norway opens Arctic border area to oil drilling | CNS News

In addition, Russia and Canada are exploring and drilling. Only the USA isn't!!!

 

[Carnorr]

How come USA haven`t done it yet?

 

[RGR]

How come USA haven`t done it yet?

Difficult to force expensive change on people without pretending (or making damn sure) that the alternative is just as expensive (and dirty and nasty and might produce CO2!) as well.

 

[mamooth]

How come USA haven`t done it yet?

Because the oil companies don't want to. The government allows it, but it can't force them.

The Alaskan waters are tough. They're frozen 9 months out of the year, while the Norwegian waters are usually ice-free.

And there's the continental shelf. More limited by Alaska and Canada, limiting area suitable for drilling. By Norway and Russia, the shelf goes way out.

 

[Old Rocks]

As terrible as the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill was, one element worked in the favor of rescuers and cleanup personnel: location. The Gulf of Mexico is the nerve center of the U.S. offshore oil industry, which made it that much easier for BP and the federal government to respond quickly to the spill. The warm Gulf environment also simplified operations and accelerated the natural dispersal of the oil. As one environmentalist noted at the time, having an oil spill in the middle of the Gulf of Mexico was like having a heart attack in the middle of a hospital. It’s still a heart attack, but at least you won’t have to wait long for treatment.

Now imagine the opposite — a heart attack far, far away from the closest medical care. That’s what’s unfolding this week in Alaska, where a Shell drilling rig called the Kulluk broke free from a tow ship in stormy seas on New Year’s Eve before running aground on the southeast coast of Sitkalidak Island, near the larger island of Kodiak. It’s not clear yet how much if any of the rig’s more than 150,000 gal. of diesel fuel and lubricants might have spilled into the freezing cold waters. And because the ship was in transit rather than actively drilling, there’s no danger of a major oil blowout similar to the Deepwater Horizon spill. But the accident and the struggles that Shell and the U.S. Coast Guard have already experienced trying to save the rig underscores just how difficult and dangerous drilling in Arctic waters will be — which should be worrying since the oil industry and the Obama Administration are counting on the bounty promised in the far north.



Read more: Shell Rig Accident off Alaska Shows Dangers of Drilling in Arctic | TIME.com

 

[RGR]

As terrible as the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill was, one element worked in the favor of rescuers and cleanup personnel: location. The Gulf of Mexico is the nerve center of the U.S. offshore oil industry, which made it that much easier for BP and the federal government to respond quickly to the spill. The warm Gulf environment also simplified operations and accelerated the natural dispersal of the oil. As one environmentalist noted at the time, having an oil spill in the middle of the Gulf of Mexico was like having a heart attack in the middle of a hospital. It’s still a heart attack, but at least you won’t have to wait long for treatment.

And just as important...it is warm water.