Is Surrey Going to be the New Texas?
BBC London News is reporting that oil drilling will be starting in Surrey soon. It’s also on the web site here.
Many years ago, I was told by a man, who’d at one time had been Managing Director or a large resources company, that Surrey was one of the most promising places to drill for oil and gas. He also lived in the county.
He believed that there should be a Local Extraction Tax. At present all taxes go to central government, who often waste it on their own vanity projects that have dubious value.
I agree with him, as just imagine what would happen to a County that got an extra fifty million pounds in its budget.
Wen we think of onshore drilling for oil and gas, we always think of towering structures and large amounts of flames reaching skywards. But the truth is rather different, if you look at an oil field like Wytch Farm. This is the largest onshore oil-field in Western Europe. Wikipedia says this about its location.
Most of the field is protected by various conservation laws, including the Jurassic Coast world heritage site, Purbeck Heritage Coast and a number of sites of special scientific interest, areas of outstanding natural beauty and nature reserves (including Studland and Brownsea Island), so the gathering centre and most of the well sites are small and well screened by trees. Directional drilling has also contributed to reducing the impact on the local environment, with extended reach drilling from the Goathorn Peninsula attaining distances in excess of 10 km.
In my view, Wytch Farm shows how we can exploit natural resources without destroying the planet or even the local area.
I also feel very strongly, that onshore fields are much safer, as all the staff generally live close and are thus so much more careful with that they do. They also generally have an interrupted family life, which probably contributes to making the right decisions.
I suppose one benefit of extracting oil in Surrey, would be that it would make changing light-bulbs in Manchester easier, if this joke is actually true.
Question: How many Manchester United fans does it take to change a light-bulb?
Answer: Two; one to actually change the bulb and another to drive him up from Surrey!
Florida Tourism
I can’t understand why anybody would want to go to the United States for a holiday and especially the state of Florida. After all according to this list from an official web site, they have executed 69 people since 1976.
I did hear though on Radio 5 this morning, that the clean-up after the Gulf oil spill has gone well and that the beaches are clean and tourism is on the rise.
But then you have the murders of James Cooper and James Kouzaris.
You wouldn’t catch me going.
It would appear that the murderer of the two Englishmen, is just 16 and will be tried as an adult and could face the death penalty.
So at least Florida has its priorities right. Tourism is more important than cleaning up crime.
Surely to improve tourism, they must do the other. But of course without using the death penalty. But then American justice is not about justice, it’s about vengeance.
Alan Duncan Wins Few Friends For Stating the Truth
Alan Duncan has been criticised fior stating that the price of oil will rise. With all the volatility in the Middle East and the strong rise in demand the price just has to go up.
I’d far rather have a politician give us the truth, than give us platitudes and hope it will be alright in the end.
Petrol and Diesel Prices
As someone who doesn’t drive at the moment and gets free travel on buses and the tube, I can’t say I’m sad that petrol and diesel prices are rising fast.
I know that I will see price increases in goods because of the increase in transport prices, but then a lot of prices are rising anyway as China and other developing countries demand a bigger share of global resources.
But having moved to London, if I look at my finances, I see a drop in gas and electricity costs, as this house is modern and fully insulated, a severe fall in transport costs and because I now have choice, my everyday food and living costs are lower too!
I know my lifestyle change has been forced on me because of the stroke, but by changing it, I have been able to make substantial savings in my cost of living. I’m also enjoying myself much more, as there is so much more to do here in the city, rather than being trapped without transport in the countryside.
So those that complain about high petrol and diesel prices, would be better to use their energy to change their lifestyle using ways that cut that energy usage.
After all, we’re going to have to cut our CO2 emissions whether we like it or not!
Gaddafi on the Ropes
It looks like the odious Colonel Gaddafi’s evil hold on Libya is coming to an end.
His son has blamed all and sundry in a speech.
But we are the ones to blame, just as we were to blame for the rise of Saddam Hussein in Iraq.
Western governments seemingly will do anything to get the oil they need to keep their people happy, so we gave them everything they wanted years ago.
As an example, when Yvonne Fletcher was shot dead outside the Libya embassy in London, we let the Libyans sneak out of the country, without a proper investigation. Some believe that the shot didn’t come from the embassy, but surely a thorough investigation at the time could have proved the truth.
Supposedly now, some claim that we are selling him the arms he has used to kill his own people.
We’ll do anything to get oil! But as I have shown in the last few months, only the selfish need a car of their own. We’ll all going to have to change our lifestyle sooner or later, so why not do it now?
Everybody Got it Wrong
The US Government report on the Deepwater Horizon disaster would appear to lay the blame thick and evenly.
But should we really be drilling offshore, when statistics show that on-shore drilling is so much safer?
The problem is also made worse in the United States because of their misguided energy policies and absolute adoration of the car.
Is This Platform the Future for Offshore Oil and Gas?
As Deepwater Horizon and Piper Alpha have shown, trying to get offshore oil and gas wells working properly can be a hazardous business.
I was converted to the idea and the economics of reuseable platforms many years ago, when I did the calculations for Balaena Structures in Cambridge.
A few days ago I was watching BBC Breakfast, when they had an item about F3-FA, which is a reuseable gas platform. It may have cost £200million, but it is intended to drain up to four or five smaller gas fields during ts working life.
The article says this about the costs of the design.
“Most platforms are permanently installed on the seabed, they are used for a number of years, after which they are decommissioned and brought back onshore,” he says.
“This platform is self-installing, which means it comes out on a barge, you put the legs down to the sea bed, you exploit the oil and gas out of the field and when the field is finished you do it in reverse and take it to the next field.
Just seven or eight people are needed to run the 9,000-tonnes facility“And you do that three or four times, thus reducing the cost.”
Note that statement about the platform needing a small crew. It must surely have safety and accommodation implications as well as cost.
Incidentally, it is very different to the Balaena I worked on. One day, I’ll put the details of that on this blog.
The Elusive Boss of Transocean
The phrase isn’t mine, but it was said on the Radio 5, Wake up to Money program this morning. It has always puzzled me, why BP’s drilling company in the Gulf, didn’t take some of the flak over the Gulf Oil Spill. I can’t even remember seeing him on the News either.
It will be interesting to see who foots the bill in the end, after the lawyers get their teeth into the problem.
Another Gulf Oil Rig Blows Up
This time it does not appear to have been as large or tragic, than the explosion on the Deepwater Horizon, but it did blow thirteen workers into the water.
There doesn’t appear to be any leaks as yet and the risk should be lower, as the well is in shallower water and supposely wasn’t producing any oil or gas.
But it does illustrate the problems of offshore drilling.
Another Onshore Oil Field
They were talking yesterday on the radio about the SIngleton oil field, just a few miles north of Goodwood race course in Sussex. This piece in the Daily Mail says that some of the locals don’t even know it’s there!
There is also this web page at the University of Southampton web site showing all the small oil fields in the south of England.
You don’t hear of many problems, so perhaps the US could satisfy its thirst for oil, by driling in more environmentally sensitive areas on shore. There would appear to be less risk, if they follow the English precedent. Incidentally, BP seems to be the operator in a lot of these fields.
The Anonymous Widower 