RosenbergBPDisasterResearchAnnotation3

United States. Energy Information Administration. Office of Oil and Gas. // Overview of U.S. Legislation and Regulations Affecting Offshore Natural Gas and Oil Activity //. By Erin Mastrangelo. U.S. Department of Energy, Sept. 2005. Web. 12 Feb. 2011. .  2. Where does the author work, what else has s/he written about, and what are her/his credentials? ** The author, Erin Mastrangelo, was employed by the Energy Information Administration as an Industry Economist upon the penning of the piece. In the time since, she has presented about pricing of natural gas, and has been a member of a Public Policy research group at the University of Maryland assessing demographic vulnerabilities to Climate Change. According to the website of the research group, she has a doctorate degree, which from the previous evidence seems likely to be in the field of Economics. 3. What is the main topic or argument of the text? ** The piece primarily seeks to present the history of regulation of the Oil and Natural Gas industries of the United States, and in doing so to place such a framework within the context of competing commercial and environmental interests. 4. Describe at least three ways that the main topic or argument is fleshed out. ** In fulfilling this purpose, the piece first seeks to demonstrate the increasing relevance of offshore drilling operations within the context of the output of these industries. These figures are presented in graphical form, and indicate an increase in production share from depths greater than 200 meters from 26.4% of crude oil production in 1995 to 69.3% in 2003, and a similar increase in Outer Continental Shelf extraction as a percentage of total output from 11.3% of crude oil in 1990 to 28.9% in 2004. Next, the controversy over the control of these offshore regions is framed through numerous historical examples, ranging from the Tidelands Region off the coast of Texas to division of the Gulf of Mexico between the United States and Mexico in the late 1970’s. In conjunction with these features, additional legislation is presented regarding environmental and royalty considerations, and it is in this context that present controversies such as state rights in coastal waters are presented. 5. What three quotes capture the critical import of the text? **  1)   “The offshore has accounted for about one-quarter of total U.S. natural gas production over the past two decades and almost 30 percent of total U.S. oil production in recent years.”
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2)  “States were given jurisdiction over any natural resources within 3 nautical miles (3.45 miles or 5.6 kilometers) of the coastline excepting Texas and the west coast of Florida where the SLA extends the States’ Gulf of Mexico jurisdiction to 9 nautical miles (10.35 statute miles or 16.7 kilometers).”

3)  “Depending on the location of the lease area, revenue is divided among affected coastal States, the U.S. Land and Water Conservation Fund, the National Historic Preservation Fund, and the U.S. Treasury.”       6. Explain how the argument and evidence in the text supports your research focus.   **  In order to properly assess the effectiveness of the regulatory regime in place at the time of the Deepwater Horizon incident, it is first necessary to ascertain the variety of interests and historical path dependencies which led to its development. In this sense, it seems that the present scheme has evolved from a careful weighing of the economic benefits of extraction and resource development with the costs of environmental pollution inflicted upon regional ecosystems. Principal points of contention, such as how to properly charge for the use of government-owned resources and how to ensure safety and reliability of operations are retained even in the face of political change. Since the Mineral Management Service is estimated by the author to collect as much as $6 billion per year in revenues from leases and other royalties, it is clear that there are conflicting incentives which may pressure regulators to engage in practices which emphasize specific subsets of these interests over others. 7. List at least two details or references from the text that will be useful to other members of your research group
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** 1) In the piece, the EIA’s Monthly Energy Review is referenced as a source of data pertaining to the share of offshore drilling on oil production. A link to the most recent of these releases, from January 2011, is provided below:

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It seems that there are some intriguing figures contained within the document pertaining to the energy menu currently utilized, shifts in the fuel economy of vehicles over time, and the composition of oil production and imports, among other indicators. Those figures particularly relevant to petroleum are contained in Chapter 3 of the work.

2) In Figure 3, a map is presented which depicts conventionally recoverable oil and natural gas reserves in areas included under the moratorium issued by President Bush in 1990. Of particular note are the regions of Northern California, Central California, and Southern California, each of which was estimated to contain either a similar amount or more oil resources than the Eastern Gulf of Mexico as of 2000. Although a comparison is not offered to the regions in which drilling is currently permitted, it seems that some of these sectors may be far more difficult to preserve in the future due to economic interests.