NOTE: 54% of Likely U.S. Voters believe the new seven-year ban will increase gas prices 54% predict that it will be bad for the economy Most Say Continuing Offshore Ban Will Hurt Economy December 6, 2010 Rasmussen Reports The Obama administration announced last week that it is continuing the ban on offshore oil and gas drilling along the Eastern seaboard and in the… Read more »

A Burst of Energy For Natural Resources? By Margaret Kriz Hobson, CQ Staff CQ Weekly November 28, 2010 Doc Hastings, a 69-year-old former paper executive from Washington state, has kept a low profile during his 16 years in the House, working on the lesser-known Rules and ethics committees and earning a reputation as a party loyalist. But as the 112th Congress prepares to convene,… Read more »

Seahawk sells rig amid downturn in shallow-water drilling October 14, 2010 Houston Chronicle Jennifer A. Dlouhy Seahawk Drilling is selling one of its rigs to an India-based oil service firm — and CEO Randy Stilley warns that could be just the first of many, as the company tries to raise cash and get rid of money-draining assets during a slowdown in new shallow-water well… Read more »

Drilling Plans Off Cuba Stir Fears of Impact on Gulf September 30, 2010 New York Times Clifford Kraus HOUSTON — Five months after the BP oil spill, a federal moratorium still prohibits new deepwater drilling in the American waters of the Gulf of Mexico. And under longstanding federal law, drilling is also banned near the coast of Florida. Yet next year, a Spanish company will begin… Read more »

The Real Gulf Disaster The Wall Street Journal September 22, 2010 Editorial On Sunday Federal spill-response chief Thad Allen declared BP's ruptured well "effectively dead." Now if only Gulf residents weren't stuck coping with the disaster the government created after the accident—namely, the federal drilling moratorium. The White House has been struggling to justify this ban,… Read more »

AP ENTERPRISE: A look at who got gov't Gulf work Associated Press Sharon Theimer Monday, September 13, 2010 WASHINGTON – The federal government hired a New Orleans man for $18,000 to appraise whether news stories about its actions in the Gulf oil spill were positive or negative for the Obama administration, which was keenly sensitive to comparisons between its response and former… Read more »

Other Energy Issues Seep into Spill Legislation July 28, 2010, 7:33PM Houston Chronicle Jennifer A. Dlouhy WASHINGTON — Energy legislation advancing in the Senate would force companies to reveal closely held details about the chemical cocktails they use to extract natural gas from shale rock, imposing the first federal regulation on hydraulic fracturing. The disclosure provision is… Read more »

A Rancher’s Personal Battle July 19, 2010 KSAZ Fox 10 News John Hook Click here to watch DOUGLAS, Ariz. - This Arizona rancher is on the front lines of the border battle, living not far from a nearly non-existent border fence east of Douglas in the southeastern part of the state. This Arizona rancher is on the front lines of the border battle, living not far from a nearly… Read more »

Offshore drilling moratorium affects everyone Study outlines how the Obama administration’s offshore moratorium will negatively impact industries nationwide. 7/19/10 E&P Magazine By Rebecca Torrellas The presidential offshore drilling moratorium will cost approximately US $2.1 billion in economic loss to the states along the Gulf of Mexico (GoM) in first six months, according to… Read more »

House, Senate call for new oil spill panel The Hill’s E2-Wire July 14, 2010 By Darren Goode The House Natural Resources Committee has joined a Senate panel in approving the creation of a bipartisan oil spill commission that would effectively compete against President Obama’s. The House panel agreed by voice vote Wednesday to set up a 10-member panel whose members would be appointed… Read more »