American energy experts have been warning with increasing urgency in recent years that other nations are moving rapidly to exploit the Gulf of Mexico’s rich reserves of oil and natural gas, even as the U.S. hobbles itself by refusing to give the go-ahead to develop its own easily accessible areas that contain billions of barrels of petroleum and trillions of feet of natural gas.
The BBC reports Russia is moving ahead with its plans to drill in the Gulf off the Cuban coast:
“Russian Deputy Prime Minister Igor Sechin signed four contracts securing exploration rights in Cuba’s economic zone in the Gulf.
Havana says there may be some 20 billion barrels of oil of its coast but the U.S. puts that estimate at five billion.
“Russia and Cuba have been working to revitalise relations, which cooled after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Russia’s Zarubezhneft oil concern will work alongside the Cubapetroleo monopoly in the deep waters of the Gulf.”
While the Russian drilling will be conducted in areas the U.S. recognized under a 1977 treasty as within Cuba’s perogative to develop, the concern is that the U.S. is falling behind in energy exploration and development, even as its need for energy from traditional and alternative sources is rapidly increasing, according to Thomas J. Pyle, president of the Institute for Energy Research, a conservative think tank that focuses on energy and environental issues.
“Policymakers in Washington have lost sight of achieving commonsense energy policies. Rather, our leaders have focused on more government intervention into the economy, by picking winners and losers in the market. Look no further than the cash-for-clunkersprogram. And now, with a national cap and trade energy rationing plan advancing hastily,middle-class tax hikes seem inevitable.
“Washington must get back to the basics, and focus on expanding freedoms and prosperity, not the size of government and our debt. This agreement between Russia and Cuba should serve as a wake-up call to Congress and this Administration, especially Secretary Salazar, who is slow-walking a new offshore energy blueprint for the nation. If we are to remain competitive in the global market, our government must take its foot off the brake, and expand domestic energy production of all forms, onshore and off.”
There are also worries that as technologies that allow “slanted” wells to tap resources miles away from a well’s starting point become more prevalent, the likelihood grows that other nations like Russiag will surrepticiously gain access to resources in the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf areas.
