We know that we could drill offshore around the southern coast of the United States and get oil.
CENTERFORSECURITYPOLICY: "Fixing" US-Latin American relations
The Republicans argue that allowing oil firms more leeway to drill offshore will help to bring the price of petrol down.
ECONOMIST: Finding more oil has become the first issue of the campaign
Florida Gov. Charlie Crist had expressed opposition to exploring coastal waters, but he said this week he supports McCain's plan to lift the moratorium and would not rule out letting his state choose to drill offshore.
He also noted that Shell is awaiting word on licenses from the U.S. government before deciding whether it will resume attempts to drill offshore in the Arctic circle off the shore of Alaska in 2014, something that is opposed by environmental groups.
It was a Republican speak-in, and their message was clear: Start the drill - offshore in Alaska, tap oil shale in Western states.
As just one example, last week I spoke with John Schiller, chief executive of offshore driller Energy XXI, who used to drill a lot of deepwater wells when he was with Ocean Energy and Devon Energy.
FORBES: Obama-Picked Investigator Says No Safety Shortcuts In Blowout Well. Really?
It seems that the targeted sands which have resulted in very rich discoveries offshore in several very big wells drilled by others are just below the drill bit.
According to this 2002 article in Offshore, the Deepwater Horizon was set to be outfitted with a system called E-drill, which continuously beams data from rig operations to a monitoring center in Houston.
Every country that thinks it might have oil offshore is going after it, including Cuba, which has contracted with China and others to drill only 60 miles off the coast of Florida.
At the same time, Global Marine has concentrated its fleet around rigs that can drill in more than 250 feet of water, as oil companies look farther and farther offshore for reserves in places like West Africa and Brazil.
When it comes to drilling offshore, my administration approved more than two permits last year for every new well that the industry started to drill.
According to a 2009 Congressional Research Service report on unconventional gas shales, directional drilling (sometimes referred to as horizontal drilling) allows for access beyond the area below the drill to both oil and gas reserves in locations inaccessible to conventional drilling, including to difficult to reach offshore reserves.
应用推荐