Is there anyone left who knows what they’re talking about who still believes that drilling off the South Carolina coast is a good idea?
Experts interviewed recently by the Associated Press says that, much like the state’s gay tourism market, these pumps are dry.
“We just don’t have the great kind of geology and the shallow enough water,” said Cassandra Runyon, a geologist at The College of Charleston.
Oil companies would have to travel 60 miles from shore to reach the outer continental shelf. But even there, conditions weren’t right to form oil, Runyon said.
“There’s no petroleum” off South Carolina, agreed Mitchell Colgan, who 20 years ago worked for Shell Oil and who now also teaches geology at the College of Charleston.
“There was a little bit of exploration that took place many years ago but there was nothing that showed there was any value. It wasn’t economically feasible,” he said.
If somebody knows of gold off ‘dem shores, link to it in comments.
One Comment
You’re right, there’s likely little crude, but there could be substantial amount of natural gas. Granted, the debate is over gas prices, but if drilling is OK’d and natural gas is plentiful I couldn’t see why gas companies wouldn’t go after it.
http://www.eia.doe.gov/oiaf/aeo/otheranalysis/ongr.html
In regard to low crude oil estimates: Supporters of drilling are apt to point out, you never know for sure until you start doing test wells. And, newer technology is generally better at finding oil the area hasn’t had much going on since the early ’80s.