In the editorial section of the New Orleans Times Picayune dated 6/8 a triple play was sought against President Obama for his moratorium concerning offshore drilling in the Gulf of Mexico. In two commentaries by the TP under the heading "our opinion" and one by Kenneth Beer listed as the Chief Financial Officer of Stone Energy Corp, both oppose the President's moratorium. Part I will deal with Mr. Beer's commentary which is an open letter to the President titled, "Shutdown a Costly Mistake."
That title says a lot about Mr. Beer because the most costly mistake was not the "shutdown" but the death of 11 workers and the family they leave behind. Mr. Beer said nothing about those 11 workers in his entire article. Mr. Beer said there are tens of thousands of workers who will be affected by the moratorium but is silent on asking BP for compensation. I guess he would not like to see a precedent set for future oil spills.
Mr. Beer also says and I quote from his article: On May 27, you received a report from a group of experts that identified the key recommendations to enhance the safety and redundancy of drilling in the deep water. These steps would be more than sufficient to prevent a repeat of the Deepwater Horizon explosion. Every deep water rig has been thoroughly inspected since the April 20 explosion. The rigs and crews are ready to drill and would obviously have an even higher sense of safety. It is time to put them back to work. Mr. Beer is silent as to when offshore drilling should resume but his last sentence seems to say right now.
Mr. Beer went on to say: A senate panel is not needed; neither is a room full of political advisers. You should listen to the engineering experts and follow their operational recommendations. And the experts did not call for an arbitrary six-month moratorium. It is of note Mr. Beer does not like investigations. It should also be noted that the President did listen to the experts when just last month opened up vast new areas for offshore drilling. This was before the explosion.
Mr. Beer goes on to say: In south Louisiana we have certainly had more than our fair share of catastrophes over the past five years. Do not add another one by implementing this moratorium. What about the period before the last five years in south Louisiana Mr. Beer, like the previous 40 plus years where oil drilling and their related operations has had a catastrophic affect on the loss of wetlands, the marshes and coastal erosion that the taxpayers have been paying for.
What we have is an oil company executive who skirted around the real issue here. While reading the article I was expecting to come upon the part where Mr. Beer explains the real story, the lives of 11 workers killed and their family grief and the fact as of this moment Mr. Beer's industry has no equipment or team available to timely plug such a blow out or to remove the spilled oil from the waters of the Gulf before that oil comes ashore. Today is day 50 since the explosion and spill. (No where being timely) And to think this industry has been drilling offshore for over 40 years.
The article was also silent on the fact that President Obama has no problem if the commission finishes its work in less that 6 months and the moratorium can be lifted. Mr. Beer tried to make a comparison between 9/11 and the moratorium. A very curious statement from left field.
I wrote a previous commentary pointing out that offshore drilling activity in the Gulf of Mexico decreased 76% between 2000 and 2009. The yearly average of rigs working in the Gulf in 2000 was 145 and only 35 in 2009. (Source TP article of 1/17/10 and Baker Hughes.) The oil industry now says the moratorium will shut down 35 rigs in the Gulf and workers will be laid off or the rigs and crews will go out of the country. "Question" where did all the rigs and crew members go between 2000 and 2009, that 76%. Did they lose their jobs and did the rigs and crews go out of the country. I do not remember the oil industry or any elected official in Louisiana talking about this. Could it be because an oilman was President for 8 or those years, a time when the price of oil and gasoline was at record levels. That says it all.
The interest of Mr. Beer is his company and the oil and gas industry. The President's interest is the whole country. Mr. Beer is in no position to support his narrow view on the issue alluded too in his letter to the President. And that really says it all.
Part II coming soon.
