[Maddog78]

Originally Posted by blackZbandit

As far as offshore drilling... that's a whole other debate, I was all for it until I did some research and realized there are millions of acres of land already leased by oil companies that they can drill on that don't pose the same environment risks that off shore drilling does. The the thing is that the oil companies know EXACTLY where the oil is off shore because they used to drill there before they f*cked up and spilled millions of gallons of crude on the coastlines. BUT, they rather not invest in exploring the lands already set aside for them even though the record profits they've shown the last few years tell us they've definitely have the cash to do so. They're basically refusing to invest in new exploration and rather wait for a thumbs up from Congress to go the cheap route.

RHETORIC: Oil and natural gas companies are demanding greater access to America’s resources even though they own leases on millions of acres of federal lands that are already open to drilling. They would rather sit on these idle leases and make record profits than increase production. If they’re not willing to produce on these idle leases, they should hand them over to someone who will.

REALITY: Just because a lease is not producing oil or natural gas doesn’t mean it’s idle. Companies are actively exploring and developing the majority of their leases, but the entire process takes years and requires many steps, including securing government permits, analyzing seismic data and installing the machinery needed for drilling and production. Many leases prove not to contain enough oil and natural gas to be commercially viable, and companies can’t produce oil and natural gas where it does not exist. Over the past five years, American companies have paid billions to obtain federal leases, and if they don’t develop leases within a certain period of time, they return them to the federal government, forfeiting all investments.

From the API website.