And it's true of drilling in the deep ocean, which, as the 2010 disaster in the Gulf of Mexico showed, we obviously haven't figured out quite yet.
In Brazil, the story is that we are happy to fund their drilling in the Atlantic Ocean but not willing to drill here (which is completely false, by the way).
Although the Obama administration recently proposed to allow a modest expansion of offshore drilling in the Arctic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico as the first concessions since the 2010 Deepwater Horizon spill, Atlantic and Pacific sites will remain off-limits to avoid a controversial decision before the election.
In a big blow for Royal Dutch Shell, the Obama administration has blocked the drilling of exploratory wells in the Arctic Ocean off the North Slope of Alaska until 2011 at the earliest.
Economou, who also bought a 4% stake in Ocean Rig for himself, says he feels strongly that deepwater drilling presents a glorious opportunity.
This is an appealing characteristic to the new Bureau of Ocean Energy Management as it strives to work out rules for future drilling in the Gulf that will provide safety and security for both rig workers and the environment.
That was beyond the reach of conventional drilling platforms, which stand on steel legs anchored to the ocean floor.
The benefits we believed would always be there, no matter how large the trawls, how long the nets, how numerous the hooks for catching ocean wildlife, or how many, how long or how deep the pipelines, drilling operations, seismic surveys or production rigs.
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Chevron miscalculated its drilling of its Frade field last November, an oil well just under the ocean floor in the Santos Basin in Brazil, about 70 kilometers off coastal Rio de Janeiro.
Plus the rig also must be kept at the same position, so energy must be expended fighting the ocean currents, and mud must be pumped, workers helicoptered on and off the rig, drilling materials delivered, etc.
But five weeks after the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig sank, it seems possible that the rate at which oil is going into the ocean, if not the rate at which it is coming out, might be coming under control.
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Each drilling platform idled by the ban puts 1, 400 jobs at risk, according to the National Ocean Industries Association (NOIA), a group of drillers and companies that support oil production.
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As of March 28, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcment (BOEMRE) of the Department of the Interior had received 31 deepwater drilling permit applications for offshore drilling activities like water injection wells and drilling from a fixed rig that were still allowed under the moratorium.
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