Offshore Drilling Proposal Interview with Fox News' Maddie Rivera

"Protect the People, Protect the Environment, Protect the Asset ... in this order, all the time"- offshore drilling operator industry expert.

The Trump administration has a made broad and sweeping proposal to open up 47 tracts of potential oil and gas lease sales covering 90% of total federal offshore acreage in the Gulf of Mexico, Atlantic Coast, Pacific Coast, and the Alaska Coast.  The plan is synchronous with proposed loosening Obama-era proposed safety regulations. Fox News, interested to get the industry insiders view, came to Gelber & Associates for our opinion on the proposal. Energy executives welcome the loosening of regulations and the opening of potentially lucrative operating opportunities. Environmentalists are are fuming over Trump's arrogance and his flirtations with environmental subterfuge. Safety experts are concerned about the slackening of safety standards and the message that relaxing regulations will send to the oil and gas industry. 

There is a long way to go for both proposals. We will see which pristine and sensitive areas are most controversial. Florida, California, Washington State, and North Carolina may prove to be most opposed to opening the federal waters off their shores to drilling, and the Arctic is a major global political football.

More on the topic in a later blog post.