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Air Force considering tapping oil offshore from Vandenberg

July 22, 2013

vandenberg baseThe U.S. Air Force is considering leasing portions of Vandenberg Air Force Base to private oil companies for extraction of offshore oil and gas with land-based drills. [LATimes]

If approved, it will be the first new offshore lease in state waters since the 1960s. The lease will permit Sunset Exploration and Exxon Mobil to use “slant drilling” technology to reach offshore deposits.

In a written statement, the Air Force said it plans to study if the proposed drilling is compatible with the base’s space and satellite-launching missions.

Environmental groups opposed to the lease argue that land-based drilling can pose the same risks to marine life as offshore operations.

“We have tremendous concerns about their proposal,” said Linda Krop, chief counsel for the Santa Barbara-based Environmental Defense Center to the LA Times. “This would be a new oil drilling project along a very biologically rich and sensitive area of the California coast. It would threaten migrating whales and other important species with oil spills and other impacts that result from offshore oil drilling.”

Proponents of the project say that the drilling would avoid the ocean environment because the drill bits would be one-half mile below the seafloor.

 


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There are enough rules and regs going on already,slant drilling looks to be a good way to go verses platforms.


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As Supreme Commander of all things America, Obama will cancel this faster than you can imagine…


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What, like signing an executive order mandating HIV testing for “all individuals 15 to 65”? Something like that?


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Don’t tell Lois…


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Or Barbara or Diane………..


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I am amazed that no one has brought up the possibility of destroying groundwater aquifers by the process of drilling into oil deposits under the ocean.


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If approved, it will be the first new offshore lease in state waters since the 1960s.

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Hey, why are we doing this?


Why tap our own natural resources when we can pay terrorist countries hundreds of billions for their oil and sell them good but inferior weapons and then spend trillions fighting and patrolling them? We had a really good thing going there.


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It’s funny how many people that consider themselves patriotic totally miss how shortsighted their arguments are against purchasing oil from Asia. If oil is a scarce resource, why would you want to use up all of your own first? You’re confusing two totally separate issues. Buy their oil, but DON’T sell them weapons. See how simple that is?


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You’re confusing two totally separate issues. Buy their oil, but DON’T sell them weapons.

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Hmmm, I don’t feel confused. You want us to give the terrorist nations 100s of billions for their oil so they can then take that money and buy their weapons from Russia and China? That’s your simpleton solution?


Maybe you are confusing fantasy land with reality because I’m talking about what historically happened and you’re talking about an overly simple and unrealistic fantasy of the future.


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Nooooooooo! No way should there be oil drilling (aof ny type) along the CA coast!


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This should be confirmed as an on-shore slant drill lease.


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In addition, I question the legal position any military base would have to exploit natural resources, that is not their charter. Affording a private a company to develope for other than military support is another question, like selling drugs or fire arms where legal for money? None of which was the reason for the military base in the first place.


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All the work will be contracted out, the military will get the $$ and access to the oil.


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As if a missile base has a burning need for a steady access to tar?


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