Interesting analysis by The Barrel's John Kingston on last week's decision to release 30 million barrels of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR).

Kingston writes that the 1 million barrels per day (b/d) to be released from the reserve over a 30-day period is approximately equal to government estimates of the daily yield from the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) - if, in fact, the government ever permitted oil and natural gas development there. He asks:

"So the question is if foes of ANWR drilling like President Obama, Sen. Charles Schumer (Democrat-New York) and Rep. Edward Markey (Democrat-Massachusetts) think an SPR release of 1 million b/d is going to impact markets, which they made clear (last week), why have they consistently dismissed the potential market impact of fl... more »

In today's episode, I interview Brett Vassey, president and CEO of the Virginia Manufacturers Association, about the state's energy summit scheduled for March 11 and the importance of accessing oil and natural gas resources off Virginia's coast.

Use the audio player below to listen to information about the article and follow along with the show notes. I hope you find the podcast informative.

Show Notes:

00:18 This week several officials and organizations are coming together in Richmond, Va., to examine the state's energy future. Gov. Bob McDonnell wants Virginia to become the first state with offshore oil and natural gas development on the Atlantic Coast. As studies have shown, drilling off Virginia's coast could have a very significant impact on the state's ec... more »

The Committee on Natural Resources in the U.S. House of Representatives held a hearing today on a proposal called the Consolidated Land, Energy and Aquatic Resources Act of 2009. While it's often referred to as an energy bill, it's actually an Un-Energy bill.

If passed, this bill would consolidate the leasing functions of the Minerals Management Service (MMS) and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) into a single office at the Interior Department. At present, the MMS manages the leasing of offshore land for energy development, and the BLM manages a similar process for onshore leasing.

Combining the two agencies would not present a problem if it would improve the efficiency of oil and natural gas development. But this bill would add another layer of bureaucracy and could jeopardize the devel... more »

Yesterday, Chevron U.S.A. Inc. announced that the Discoverer Clear Leader--an ultra-deepwater drillship newly built to Chevron's specifications--has begun work in the deepwater U.S. Gulf of Mexico, allowing Chevron to expand its search for new domestic sources of energy.

The state-of-the-art vessel is capable of drilling wells in 12,000 feet (3,650 meters) of water to a total depth of 40,000 feet (12,200 meters), surpassing the limits of previous technology. Chevron is one of the top lease holders and producers in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico. The company holds the current world water-depth drilling record of 10,011 feet (3,051 meters) of water in the Gulf.

Watch the ultra-deepwater drilling animation, and station-keeping animation showing how satellite signals and acoustic beacons on the... more »

By today's estimates, there are about two trillion barrels of recoverable conventional oil resources worldwide, and as much as twice that in additional frontier resources like extra-heavy oil, oil sands, and oil shale and shale gas. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) conservatively estimates oil shale formations in Colorado, Utah and Wyoming contain 800 billion barrels of recoverable oil--more than three times the proven reserves of Saudi Arabia.

With this in mind, a new report from the National Center for Policy Analysis (NCPA) reveals that increased production of oil shale could enhance our nation's national security and provide substantial economic benefits.

In the report:

• As many as 100,000 new jobs could be created by a 2 million barrel per day oil shale industry.
• The DOE estimates... more »