Category Archives: Offshore

NEWS CENTER and Adrienne Stein, WCSH 6:25 PM. EDT August 24, 2017

(Photo: USGS)

*UPDATE 8/24 5:15 p.m. The earthquake's intensity has been increased from 2.0 to 2.2.

*UPDATE 8/24 3:10 p.m. The U.S. Geological Survey on Thursday afternoon confirmed a 2.0 earthquake less than 4 miles southeast of South Portland offshore of Cape Elizabeth.

2.0 Earthquake registered just offshore of Cape Elizabeth. pic.twitter.com/sLG1UO9nku

Seismogram in Maine picked up the rumble just after noon. pic.twitter.com/eTS7Dub3Tc

207: Maine author's new book says we should be concerned but not afraid of earthquakes

CAPE ELIZABETH, Maine (NEWS CENTER) A loud, mysterious boom shook the Cape Elizabeth region around lunchtime Thursday.

A NEWS CENTER viewer said it shook his house, and friends have commented on social media wondering what caused the sound.

Cape Elizabeth police said they got at least a dozen calls about it. Officers heard and felt it, too.

NEWS CENTER asked police if it could be a sonic boom from the Blue Angels flying team, which is in Brunswick for the weekend. The officer said that idea was dismissed in their department.

There isnt any report of a propane explosion in the community, either.

NEWS CENTER Chief Meteorologist Todd Gutner tweeted Anyone feel that?

Anyone feel that?

He got more than a dozen responses, including a tweet from Peter Nichols who said he felt the ground shake and heard the loud boom in South Portland, too.

Yes in sopo.

We felt something here in the Courthouse!

Police as of Thursday afternoon said they didn't have a clue as to what may have caused it.

2017 WCSH-TV

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USGS confirms 2.2 earthquake offshore of Cape Elizabeth | WCSH6 ... - WCSH-TV

Platts recently reported that global offshore wind capacity could double to 34 GWs by 2020, growing at a compound rate of 19 percent per year. The rapid expansion would be driven chiefly by new capacity in the North Sea and China. In fact, offshore capacity in East Asia will outstrip that of Europe by 2022.

But what about the U.S.? Rapidly declining costs, improving reliability and the success of the first offshore installation in Rhode Island are encouraging companies to take further chances on offshore wind. New offshore projects are attracting the interest and attention of major energy companies, as wind power continues to increase its share of the total U.S. energy market.

Leases for offshore wind development are being snapped up by European energy companies, which have decades of experience installing offshore wind farms. Royal Dutch/Shell has been investing in electricity start-ups and other ventures to improve its competitiveness in non-fossil fuel fields. Norways Statoil won a license to develop a farm off the coast of New York, and seeks to expand to California and Hawaii, reallocating resources from its oil and gas division. The New York lease went to Statoil after a $42.47 million bid for around seventy-nine thousand acres.

Statoil is on the cutting-edge of wind technology and spearheads the Hywind project off the coast of Scotland, the worlds first floating wind farm.

Related:Aggressive U.S. Oil Sanctions Could Bankrupt Venezuela

Denmarks DONG Energy has won a lease in Massachusetts, holds another lease in New Jersey and recently opted to spin off its oil and gas divisions so it could focus exclusively on renewables. The Danish company holds a dominant share (29 percent) of global installed offshore wind capacity.

DONG recently beat second quarter profit forecast, and is looking to expand into new opportunities in New York, Maryland and Virginia, according to the companys spokesperson.

An attempt at constructing wind farm off the coast of Massachusetts near Cape Cod failed in 2001 due to local resistance, environmental concerns and other issues. But a new effort is being made by DONG Energy, working with Rhode Island-based Deepwater Wind, to install 144 MW of capacity with a 40 MW/hour Tesla battery storage system, allowing the turbines to collect additional energy at night and securing more reliability from wind turbines that historically have found it difficult to match supply with demand.

The failure of the Cape Wind project was indicative of the sluggish progress of offshore wind power in the United States, which lags far behind Europe and Asia in installed capacity. But this new project once completed will provide enough power for around 80,000 homes. The Tesla battery will provide greater reliability, as wind turbines are generally incapable of providing power with the same steadiness as fossil fuel-firing power plants.

The costs associated with offshore wind, the longer set-up time and the cost of long transmission lines running back to shore, makes it an expensive proposition. Local political resistance to offshore wind remain strong.

Cape Wind failed in large part because local residents protested the installation of what they regarded as an eye sore: similar ventures in the Carolinas have run into similar problems. That might be changing, however, as a growing commercial and political coalition urges the governor of North Carolina to approve new action on offshore wind power.

Related:Is Wall Street Funding A Shale Failure?

The marriage of Tesla storage technology and DONG manufacturing could provide the answer to how offshore wind becomes competitive in the U.S. Tesla is focusing its renewable-power battery technology on both solar and wind power, with a storage facility operational in Kauai, Hawaii and a second set for construction in Australia.

According to the U.S. Department of Energy, wind power added 8200 MW in 2016, accounting for 26 percent of new capacity. Total wind energy has doubled since 2011, from 120 million MW hours to 226 million MW hours.

A report on offshore found more than 20 projects in the pipeline, representing 24,000 MWs of potential installed capacity. The potential for projects utilizing Teslas storage technology or floating platforms may indicate further growth in the future, once methods are refined.

If the projects from Statoil and DONG are successful, they could presage further expansion of offshore wind power in the United States, as more companies take advantage of falling costs and new tech.

By Gregory Brew for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:

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Why Tesla Is Interested In Offshore Wind - OilPrice.com

Big Island Now

Woman Found Dead Offshore of Hakalau Big Island Now The Hawai'i County Fire Department responded to a report of an opihi picker in distress offshore of Hakalau near the 15-mile marker of Highway 19 (Mmalahoa Highway) on Saturday, Aug. 19, 2017, at 1:36 p.m.. First-responders arrived on scene and to ...

See more here:

Woman Found Dead Offshore of Hakalau - Big Island Now

Image: The Drillship Maersk Viking

Note: On May 25, 2017, Maersk Drilling has been awarded a contract extension for the ultra-deepwater drillship Maersk Viking, by oil major Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM). The estimated value of the contract extension is $22.5 million, with a duration of 150 days (@$150k/d).

Maersk Drilling is part of the Maersk group or A.P. Moller - Maersk based in Denmark.

Whether we like it or not, a new phase has clearly begun in the offshore drilling industry, as I was predicting as far as a year ago. I call it, the "consolidation" phase.

It is a normal stage in the life of an industry in which components in the industry start to merge to form fewer components, in order to cope with a new and tougher business model and reduce cost by synergies.

It started slowly later last year with Rowan (RDC) and Saudi Aramco's new 50/50 joint venture on November 21, 2016. Please read my article about the deal, click here.

However, it is early 2017 that the process of consolidation increased significantly, with the creation of a new offshore company called Borr Drilling (BORR.OSE) in Norway.

1 - On January 24, 2017, Borr Drilling completed the delivery of the two Hercules JUs, the Triumph and the Resilience, now called the Borr drilling Ran (formerly the Hercules Triumph - 2013) and the Borr drilling Frigg (formerly the Hercules Resilience - 2013).

2 - On March 20, 2017, Borr Drilling acquired Transocean's (NYSE:RIG) entire jackup fleet for $1.35 billion, including $320 million of cash. Please click here to read my article on March 21, 2017.

3 - I could also mention here John "big John" Fredriksen and its new Northern Drilling venture, but it is purely an investment company and not really a rig operator, created to ease the Seadrill (SDRL) restructuring.

4 - On May 30, 2017, with the controversial proposed acquisition of Atwood Oceanics (ATW) by Ensco (ESV) in an all-stock transaction. Please click here to read my article about the deal.

5 - More recently, on August 15, 2017, Transocean announced that it intends to acquire Songa Offshore for a total transaction value of $3.4 Billion. Please click here to read my article about the deal.

According to Steve Marshall from Upstreamonline,

"Further rig players are on the radar screen for possible acquisition by predatory rivals after the Transocean-Songa offshore deal as the drilling market is perceived as having reached the bottom, according to an analyst."

As an investor, it is paramount to recognize this trend as early as possible and take advantage of the market by selectively accumulating stocks that are selling off now based on a short-term negative perception - using a debatable backward dynamic valuation - while the industry is about to turn around.

Despite a difficult environment, the growing sentiment in the offshore drilling sector is that the market has stopped degrading, prompting oil producers to look ahead for new opportunities in order to increase their fast declining oil & gas reserves, at a very attractive cost per barrel never achieved before.

There is always a silver lining in every dark cloud... And, it is the jackup segment rebounding recently. The contracting activity in the jackup segment has shown clearly a nascent recovery shaping up during the first half of 2017.

It is slowly expanding to the floater class, and I was glad to report several welcomed contracts, such as the Seadrill Drillship West Saturn in Brazil, the Ensco three drillship contracts in West Africa or even the Maersk contract mentioned above.

Granted, it is not an easy call, and oil prices are not really helping either. However, it is now a fact offshore drillers are announcing more and more contracts for jackups and floaters as well. We should listen to the players in the field, because they know what they are talking about.

Recently, I covered the second quarter earnings results of numerous offshore drillers such as Ensco, Noble (NE), and Transocean, and I heard the same encouraging comments about a drilling market embarked on a gentle recovery mode.

Ms Terry Bono said in the conference call:

We also see multiple bidding opportunities globally where we have identified almost 60 floater programs that could begin within the next 18 months.

We are participating in multiple bids and seeing more opportunities in other parts of the Latin America, including Trinidad, Colombia, Guyana and Suriname as a number of operators have programs that should begin in the next 12 to 18 months. In addition to the FID approval for ExxonMobil's Liza development offshore Guyana, Tullow recently signed a 10-year lease for the Orinduik Block in the Guyana-Suriname Basin. We are also excited about deepwater opportunities in Mexico, including the recent large discovery of the Zama field by the Talos JV.

We will have to differentiate the companies who are "prime acquisition candidates" and the ones who are the "buyers" such as Ensco or Transocean. In some cases, the same company can be considered as both, such as Noble Corp. or Rowan.

List of "Prime acquisition candidates" can be long and highly controversial.

List of potential "Buyers" is not as long.

1 - Diamond Offshore (DO)

2 - Rowan Companies

3 - Noble Corp. Plc

4 - Transocean Ltd.

5 - Ensco Plc.

6 - Seadrill Ltd. (After the restructuring).

7 - Borr Drilling.

Note: I believe Noble Corp., Diamond Offshore, and Odfjell Drilling are the three companies most likely to announce a deal soon.

This situation is not an easy one for investors, especially if you are already a shareholder of one or several companies indicated above.

An acquisition is a delicate move for the company that acquires another one on future expectations, and generally, the market tends to punish the "buyer" for a little while, whereby boosting the "acquisition candidate" who enjoys a quick premium.

Transocean stock tumbled about 10% or more on the Songa acquisition in just two days, and the deal is so complex that I cannot decide whether it is a clever move or else. Songa traded up ~40% on the news.

This is what basically counts. Investors could not care less if the deal was a good one or a bad one, especially when you have an equal amount of so-called analysts telling you it is either a good deal or a total catastrophe.

However, you can profit either by buying the "acquisition candidate" before it happens, if you are clever enough to guess who is next. You can also buy the "sell off" after the deal is released, if you understand how the situation will play out the next few months. The name of the game is to profit, and I hope this article will help you.

Ms Janne Kvernland from Nordea Markets said:

There are more than 60 different contractors in the floating rig arena and 120 in jack-ups, of which 30 and 70 players in the respective segments have just one to three rigs. About 55% of the floaters are in the hands of the top 10 biggest contractors, while the corresponding figure for jack-ups is 40%. A key buying criterion for potential bidders is drilling capability and there is also a preference for contract backlog.

She thinks, Odfjell drilling is the most suitable now because the company owns semi-submersibles secured on profitable charters with clients such as Statoil (NYSE:STO), BP (NYSE:BP), and Wintershall, with day rates higher than the barebone level of $200K/d or $150k/d we are now experiencing. I am not so convinced Odfjell drilling is really a candidate now, because of the size of the acquisition.

By the way, Ms Kvernland commented on the recent Transocean-Songa deal and said that the deal "makes perfect sense" for Transocean as it safeguards the company's leading position in the North Sea after scrapping 33 floaters - including eight in the North Sea - while also "boosting its backlog to $14.3 billion and bolstering its relationship with Statoil." Additionally, Ms Kvernland said,

It is a good price for shareholders in Songa and fair for Transocean given the backlog.

On the other hand, DNB markets described the deal as "expensive", given it prices each of the Cat-D rigs at between $160 million to $210 million above Songa's own valuation. The analyst said that a day rate of around $450k/d would be required to justify such a price (Songa rigs are actually working at $470k/d under the Statoil contracts).

Important note: Do not forget to follow me on the offshore drilling industry. Thank you for your support, it is appreciated.

Disclosure: I am/we are long RIG, ESV.

I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it (other than from Seeking Alpha). I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article.

Additional disclosure: I won many offshore driller including RIG and ESV either for the long term or short term trading.

Editor's Note: This article covers one or more stocks trading at less than $1 per share and/or with less than a $100 million market cap. Please be aware of the risks associated with these stocks.

Read more from the original source:

Transocean-Songa Offshore: Who Is Next On My Bucket List? - Seeking Alpha

Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D) on Thursday came out against expanding offshore drilling in the Atlantic Ocean waters off the coast of his state.

McAuliffe had previously said he could supportdrilling near Virginia on the condition that the federal government expand a royalty sharing program that would supply coastal states with revenue from drillingoperations.

But, in a letter to Interior Department officials and a statement released Thursday, McAuliffe said he doesnt believe the Trump administration will agree to such a plan, and he said he opposes oil and natural gas drilling in the Atlantic without one.

President Trumps proposal to end the revenue sharing agreement with the Gulf States is a clear indication that we cannot trust the president to give Virginia its fair share of the revenues that would result from offshore exploration, McAuliffe said in a statement, noting a provision in Trumps budget proposal that would end a revenue sharing program in the Gulf of Mexico.

Additionally, the presidents administration is actively working to cut funding from the very agencies that would be charged with protecting Virginias coastal environment in the event that exploration went forward, he added.

McAuliffes announcement comes as the Interior Department finishes hearing comments on a proposal to reopen the Outer Continental Shelf leasing program for oil and gas drilling.

The current drilling plan, finalized during the Obama administration, blocks drilling in the Atlantic Ocean, though President Trump has indicated he would like to explore for oil there.

The Virginia Petroleum Council said Thursday it would be short-sighted to block offshore drilling near the state.

As the governor has previously stated, safe and responsible energy development off the coast of Virginia would bring millions, and potentially hundreds of millions, of dollars in investment and thousands of jobs to the Commonwealth, Miles Morin, the groups executive director, said in a statement.

But environmentalistsbacked McAliffes position, nothing that other Atlantic coast governors have spoken out against drilling, as well.

He joins communities up and down the coast, business leaders and other elected officials in understanding that offshore drilling is a bad deal for our coast, said Sierra Weaver, the head of the Southern Environmental Law Centers Coast and Wetlands Program.

Once again, the coast has spoken. Its time for Washington to listen.

Updated at 5:02 p.m.

Read the original here:

Virginia governor opposes offshore drilling plan - The Hill

Related Coverage

Crews have widened the search area to look for five Army aviators after aUH-60 Black Hawk helicopter crashed approximately two miles west of Kaena Point.

With the search now in its second full day, the area has expanded to as much as 50 miles offshore due to swift and dynamic currents in the area.

This is normal. Search areas do expand, said Lt. Scott Carr, U.S. Coast Guard 14th District.Any time youre in the water, you get drift, and so the currents go in different directions. Certain currents actually move north, certain currents move west, and thats going to expand your search area over time. So were very aware of that and we plan out ahead of it, and thats why it expands out.

Fixed-wing aviation assets are searching the leading edge while helicopters and vessels are concentrating efforts 15 to 20 miles offshore.

Two UH-60s from the 25th Infantry Divisions Combat Aviation Brigade were taking part in a routine training mission Tuesday night when one helicopter lost radio and visual contact with the other. The helicopter was reported missing at around 9:30 p.m.

Personnel at the joint forward incident command post at Haleiwa Boat Harbor continue to coordinate search-and-rescue efforts.

Officials say so far, none of the aviators have been located. Debris continues to be spotted and recovered in the area off Kaena Point, which include more helmets and pieces of the helicopter.

We constantly have assets in the air and on the water searching for the air crew and recovering debris. We believe its related to this incident and thats been ongoing for the last 24 hours, saidLt. Col. Curt Kellogg, 25th Infantry Division. Iwill continue to emphasize that this is still a highly active search-and-rescue operation. That is our focus and that is our mission bringing our soldiers home.

Debris from the crash should be considered hazardous material and should only be recovered by recovery teams with the proper training and personal protective equipment. The debris poses potential risk and could cause serious bodily harm due to sharp edges.

Based on current models, officials say debris could wash up on shore anywhere from Yokohama Bay and around Kaena Point to Haleiwa.

Those who see or encounter debris consistent with this type of aircraft along the north and west side of Oahu are asked to report it to responders by calling the 25th Combat Aviation Brigade Staff Duty Officer at (808) 656-1080.

A safety zone extending out in a five nautical mile (5.75 statue mile) radius from the point 21-27.919N 158-21.547W, geographically located roughly two miles northwest of Kaena Point, was established by the Coast Guard Captain of the Port Wednesday. No vessels or persons are authorized to enter this zone without prior approval from the Captain of the Port. A broadcast notice to mariners has been issued.

Kaena State Park trails are currently closed at this time.

Weather on scene is currently 17 mph winds with 4 foot seas and isolated showers.

See the article here:

Crews expand search area for five soldiers following offshore Black Hawk crash - KHON2

History tells us that when asset prices are high and we are worried about what will happen next, defensive stocks are the place to be. The usual advice is to take cover in boring blue-chips such as consumer staples and utilities.

While that has been a good call in the past, this time it is these same defensive names that have driven the market upwards. This makes sense: central banks suppressed the prospective returns on bonds by bidding up their prices, so investors who previously held bonds have been forced into equities. As reluctant equity investors, they have chosen the most bond-like stocks they could find the defensives.

In such a market environment, it is particularly important to focus on downside risk. Allan Gray and Orbis define risk as the permanent loss of capital. We position our portfolios to limit this risk. While this approach can lead to short-term underperformance, it is the best way to preserve and grow our clients wealth in the long term.

To achieve this, we look at every company we own in meticulous detail. We are wary of investing in companies with weak balance sheets that would not make it through a downcycle without raising capital or, worse, capitulating. While we pick the stocks we put into portfolios one by one, there are essentially four buckets of stocks that have emerged from our bottom-up decisions:

1. Stocks that are cheap because of company- or industry-specific concerns: These are classic Orbis stocks. Prices and investor sentiment are depressed due to country, industry or company concerns or a combination of the three. Russias Sberbank is a good example. At a time when financial services and Russia have both been out of favour, many investors have overlooked what is otherwise a well-run bank with a dominant competitive position.

2. Stocks with large cash balances that can be deployed in attractive opportunities if asset prices decline significantly:Multinational conglomerate Berkshire Hathaway stands out as a good example. Warren Buffett has cash at the ready to snap up cheap assets as soon as they become available. We dont think the value of that cash is reflected in the share price.

3. Stocks undergoing transformations that should enhance intrinsic value:An example is Charter Communications, one of Orbiss largest holdings. The US cable telecom provider is leading the charge in consolidating the US broadband industry, with a savvy management team managing the acquisition process. We take a long-term perspective and dont think the valuation the market assigns to Charter and other such companies is reflected in their share prices.

4. Beneficiaries of innovation and change:This final bucket is for companies changing the way we do things using technology and innovation. Once again, we think the market is underappreciating the value of profitable, long-term growth something that is more evident when taking a long-term perspective. Orbis owns a number of e-commerce companies that fit this description, with Amazon being the best-known example.

Once you mix all these buckets together, you get a well-diversified group of companies that have been thoroughly analysed and have one thing in common: the price we have paid for their earnings and assets is well below what we think they are actually worth. We wont be right every time historically, our success ratio has been about 60% but paying a low price relative to fundamental value creates a margin of safety in case we are wrong.

And that is the key point: we believe underpaying for assets not only leads to superior returns in the long term, but also reduces the risk of permanent capital loss. Similarly, it is also important to avoid areas of the market that look particularly expensive, as is the case with the so-called defensive shares in the current environment.

Orbis will be speaking about investing offshore and the opportunities it can find in the current global environment at the upcoming Allan Gray Investment Summit on August 31 2017. This new one-day event aims to help investors protect and grow their wealth. For more information and to book tickets, visit http://www.investmentsummit.co.za.

Matthew Spencer is head of institutional clients at Orbis.

This article was paid for by Allan Gray.

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How to pick offshore investments for long-term wealth creation - Business Day (registration)

More than 100 South Atlantic coastal communities have come out against it, and it has near-universal opposition from environmental advocacy groups.

Opposition is also bipartisan, creating some uniquely unusual bedfellows. However, the Trump administration, along with many Republican elected officials, support offshore oil and gas drilling. These supporters see drilling and the seismic exploration that leads up to it as a way of expanding national fuel resources and enhancing job growth.

The Trump administration intends to turn back an Obama administration order that declared the coast from Virginia to Florida closed to seismic testing and the subsequent drilling. But there is a structured process to follow, so comments recently submitted come as part of the White Houses request for information on a new five-year regulatory program.

Closing out the comment period, environmental organizations once again reiterated their reasons for pushing back against the Trump administrations efforts.

There is overwhelming opposition to drilling from coastal communities, elected officials across the political spectrum, local businesses and commercial and recreational fishing groups, Southern Environmental Law Center senior attorney Sierra Weaver said in a statement Wednesday. These individuals, communities and businesses have recognized that the risks of drilling outweigh any potential benefits. We will not gamble with our coast.

The SELCs submitted comments in PDF form run more than 30 pages, with footnotes and links to research data, studies and news reports.

Offshore oil and gas production has never been permitted in the Atlantic, and after extensive study and deliberation about the injuries our coast stands to suffer from such activity, it was flatly rejected less than two years ago, according to the SELCs comments. Opening the Atlantic to offshore oil and gas drilling poses a direct threat to the fragile and unique ecosystems of the Southeast coast and to the millions of people whose livelihoods depend on our clean coastal resources.

Georgia municipalities that passed resolutions against offshore drilling and seismic testing include Brunswick, Kingsland, St. Marys, Savannah and Tybee Island, among others.

The decision to deny seismic permits was based on sound science, policy and public input, Alice Keyes, vice president for coastal conservation with One Hundred Miles, said in a July statement. One Hundred Miles represents thousands of coastal advocates who stand together to support that decision.

U.S. Rep. Buddy Carter, R-1 who represents the Georgia coast has repeatedly stood by his position favoring offshore drilling, however it is a policy not universal among coastal Republicans. For instance, the practice is opposed by U.S. Rep. Mark Sanford, whose 1st District in South Carolina includes Beaufort, Charleston, Kiawah Island and Hilton Head Island.

Carter, though, defended his environmental policy reasoning during his February town hall at College of Coastal Georgia. He reinforced many of the same points when he returned to CCGA earlier this month. Carter said he grew up along the coast and takes pride in its natural wonder, but said many federal environmental regulations need to be reigned in.

Im not going to ever vote for something thats going to harm our environment, Carter said in February. I get it. I understand that.

The rest is here:

Comment period closes on Trump offshore drilling push - Brunswick News

RICHMOND, Va. Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe announced his opposition Thursday to offshore drilling in the Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of Virginia.

President Donald Trump signed an executive order in April to begin a five-year plan for offshore drilling in the Gulf of Mexico and off the East Coast of the United States.

Governor McAuliffe submitted a letter to the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management on the National Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program and released the following statement:

Revenue sharing agreement is an essential precursor to moving forward on any offshore oil and gas exploration in Virginia. President Trumps proposal to end the revenue sharing agreement with the Gulf States is a clear indication that we cannot trust the President to give Virginia its fair share of the revenues that would result from offshore exploration. Additionally, the Presidents administration is actively working to cut funding from the very agencies that would be charged with protecting Virginias coastal environment in the event that exploration went forward. For these reasons, I do not support including the Commonwealth of Virginia in the new review of the National Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program. My administration will continue to focus on diversifying Virginias economy and using our precious resources in a way that benefits the people of Virginia.

According to the Southern Environmental Law Center, Gov. McAuliffe joins North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper and South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster in voicing their opposition to offshore drilling.

RELATED:

Anti-drilling protestors gather in VirginiaBeach

Trump signs order looking to reverse Obamas ban on off-shoredrilling

37.540725 -77.436048

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Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe announces his opposition to offshore drilling - wtkr.com

President Trump advocates drilling offshore from Maine to Florida, but Gov. Christie is opposed, saying spills could harm Jersey Shore property and tourism James M. O'Neill/NorthJersey.com

President Trump is looking to reverse the Obama administration ban on oil and gas drilling in the Atlantic.(Photo: Associated Press)

The Christie administration Wednesday issued a rebuke to President Donald Trumps bid to open Atlantic Ocean waters to offshore drilling.

In formal comments filed with the federal government, Gov. Chris Christie reaffirmed his opposition to any industrialization of the New Jersey coast that could affect the states natural resources, coastal communities or economy. Its a rare case of policy agreement between environmental groups and Christie.

Trump has said he wants to expand development of the country's oil and gas reservesand the U.S. Department of the Interior recently proposed a five-year program to lease large tracts of underwater areas along the outer continental shelf from Maine to Florida for oil and natural gas exploration and potential development.

Trumps proposal would reverse a ban on offshore Atlantic drilling imposed by the Obama administration.

EXECUTIVE ORDER: President Trump's order could lead to more offshore drilling

PUSH FOR BAN: NJ senators urge Pres. Obama to permanently ban offshore drilling

FIRST 100 DAYS: Trump Tracker: First acts curtail environmental protections

In 2016 former President Barack Obama put the Atlantic from Georgia to Virginia off-limits to any drilling for five years, citing concerns raised by the Pentagon that drilling could hinder the Navys live training exercises and testing of missile systems off the coast.

Before leaving office, Obama barred indefinitely any oil or gas drilling in 31 canyons beneath the Atlantic Ocean from Chesapeake Bay to New England. The areas covered involve nearly 6,000 square miles, or 3.8 million acres, and include the Hudson and Baltimore canyons off the New Jersey coast along the outer continental shelf. The Hudson Canyon reaches more than 10,000 feet deep deeper than the Grand Canyon.

New Jersey officials have long opposed drilling in the Atlantic because any spills could put New Jersey's estimated $700 billion in coastal properties at risk. The states $45 billion Shore-based tourism industry and its commercial fishing industry, which generates $8 billion annually and supports about 50,000 jobs, could also be impacted by a spill.

The areas in yellow show Atlantic canyons where oil and gas drilling was banned by the Obama administration. Triangle and rectangle off Cape Cod indicate national monument.(Photo: Bureau of Ocean Energy Management)

New Jersey officials have said even drilling in the Atlantic south of New Jersey could affect the state, since prevailing currents travel northand any spills could potentially befoul New Jersey's beaches and bays.

In a letter to the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management filed Wednesday, Bob Martin, commissioner of the state Department of Environmental Protection, outlined New Jerseys opposition to any offshore drilling.

Weighing the potential negative impacts to New Jerseys natural resources, coastal communities, and economy with the potential for energy generation and current energy needs, the State of New Jersey opposes any portion of the North and Mid-Atlantic Ocean being included in the development of a National Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program, Martin wrote.

OBAMA: President blocks oil and gas drilling off New Jersey

NO DRILLING: Drilling for oil in Atlantic put on hold over tourism, military concerns

In the past, Christie has also vetoed proposals to build liquefied natural gas facilities off New Jerseys coast.

Energy exploration or facilities off our coast pose far too many unacceptable risks to our environment, to the safety and welfare of the State's residents, and to New Jerseys economy, Martin said in a statement.

Several environmental groups posted to Twitter supporting Christie's position against drilling.

The environmental group Clean Ocean Action applauds Governor Christies leadership and steadfast opposition to offshore drilling anywhere in the Atlantic where it could harm the Jersey Shore, said Cindy Zipf, the groups executive director. We urge all officials, candidates, and citizens to do the same and submit letters to oppose offshore oil drilling.

The public comment period ends on Aug. 17 at midnight.

Read or Share this story: https://njersy.co/2x5B9zA

Link:

Christie rebukes Trump over Atlantic offshore drilling plan - NorthJersey.com