Report: Offshore drilling precarious

The international environmental group Oceana, which also has a North American office in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., recently released a report that says it finds offshore oil drilling to be a precarious operation, which runs 180 degrees from the narrative of the American Petroleum Institute, which hopes to open new offshore lease sites and contends drilling is safer since the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill. The “Dirty Drilling: Trump Administration Proposals Weaken Key Safety Protections and Radically Expand Offshore Drilling” report comes while the U.S. government is putting the final touches of a 5-year drilling plan for offshore leases, which one day may include Eglin AFB’s military training range in the GoM. Less safety and more drilling are a recipe for disaster,” Oceana Campaign Director Diane Hoskins said in a statement. The report contends the offshore drilling industry is poorly regulated, risky and not equipped to handle another major oil spill. Also in the report, Oceana wrote that there have been at least 6,500 oil spills in U.S. waters from 2007-17; sizes are generally low-balled; and fines average $44,675 per violation per day. The industry, according to the reports, is accustomed to $1M-per-day operating costs. (Source: Inweekly.net columnist 04/25/19) API is a national trade association representing the oil and natural gas industry. The full report is at usa.oceana.org/dirtydrilling.