A new study prepared for the Florida House of Representatives says offshore oil and natural gas activities "are unlikely to present a major risk to Florida."

The study, conducted by Willis Structured Risk Solutions, is part of an ongoing effort to gather information about the costs and benefits of offshore drilling. State leaders are considering whether to open state-owned offshore areas to oil and natural gas development.

Florida owns the portion of the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) that extends three miles or so to the Gulf Stream in the Atlantic and 10.4 miles along its western coastline into the Gulf of Mexico. The OCS areas that exist beyond these boundaries are controlled by the federal government.

The study says that there is "great uncertainty" about the amount of oil and natural g... more »

In a Tallahassee Democrat op-ed published this week, the Florida Petroleum Council's Dave Mica challenges recent inaccurate claims that oil and natural gas jobs are declining and production off Florida's coast will harm the tourism industry.

Dave argues that the oil and natural gas industry already supports 9.2 million American jobs and is poised to create even more jobs if provided more opportunities to explore and produce domestic oil and natural gas.

Further, energy development doesn't have to come at a price to the environment. Dave says:

"The good news is that Florida does not have to choose between offshore oil and natural gas development and tourism and the environment. State-of-the-art advances in seismic measurements, directional drilling, subsea production and safety systems, alo... more »