Fact-checking the president’s energy rhetoric: See API’s new point-by-point look at some of the energy assertions the president has made in his State of the Union address and other public statements. For example:

President: “I’m directing my administration to open more than 75 percent of our potential offshore oil and gas reserves.”

Fact: The administration is defining the status quo as progress. The resources identified are restricted to areas in the Gulf of Mexico and the Alaska OCS that have already been leased and where the industry is already active. In fact, the administration’s latest plan for offshore development scales back on the previous plan by removing the Eastern Gulf of Mexico and areas in the Atlantic. The 75 percent number is deceiving because it includes only the ar... more »

“…tonight, I’m directing my administration to open more than 75 percent of our potential offshore oil and gas resources.” -  President Obama 2012 State of the Union

So, 75 percent – that must be good, right?  Well, not exactly.  Let’s take a look at what the Proposed Outer Continental Shelf Oil & Gas Leasing Program 2012-2017 actually provides:

The president wants you to focus on the two numbers on the right, that 77 percent and 78 percent of our potential resources are available.  But the more important number is on the left, showing that only 13 percent of our total outer continental shelf (OCS) acreage is even open to development.  To understand why we need to understand what those oil and natural gas numbers represent – and what they don’t.

What they represent are the un... more »

The Interior Department's plan to complete supplemental environmental reviews could prevent the U.S. government from holding a Gulf of Mexico lease sale next year, making 2011 the first year since 1965 that no Gulf leases would be sold for U.S. offshore oil production.

As API's Upstream Director Erik Milito explained to reporters yesterday, adding the supplemental reviews could lead to long delays. "Our concern remains how soon they'll be able to get this work done," he said.

Before holding the 2011 sales, the government plans to complete a Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (EIS), gather public comments, and finalize the EIS. While the industry is hopeful that the work can be done quickly and adequately address any environmental concerns, it is quite possible t... more »

I've got an important question for anyone in the administration who's willing to comment on this blog: Can you explain why the U.S. government is loaning money to Mexico to drill in the Gulf while imposing a drilling moratorium here?

According to information first reported by CNSNews, the Export-Import Bank loaned the Mexican national oil company PEMEX $1 billion last fiscal year and plans to provide another $1 billion this fiscal year, unless Congress objects. About $600 million in 2009 was for drilling 18 wells in the Bay of Campeche in the southern Gulf of Mexico.

Apparently bank officials are presuming that the United States will benefit by importing a portion of PEMEX's new energy resources. This nation imports about 1.2 million barrels of oil per day from Mexico. Also, PEMEX reported... more »

Shell has announced a "significant new oil discovery" in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico.

The find is located in the Appomattox prospect area in the Mississippi Canyon. The well was drilled through more than 7,200 feet of water to a total depth of 25,077 feet where it found a 530'-thick layer containing oil.

A published report indicates the discovery is estimated to hold at least 100 million barrels of oil. Shell's partner, Nexen Inc. which owns rights to 20 percent of the new discovery, says the find has "excellent reservoir quality."

The new well complements two other successful wells that were drilled in the Shiloh prospect in 2003 and at Vicksburg in 2007, about 6 miles east of Appomattox. For each well, Shell partnered with Nexen.

Although drilling in the deepwater of the Gulf is very ex... more »