Natural petroleum seeps off Santa Barbara release up to 80 Exxon Valdez oil spills

A new study by researchers at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and the University of California, Santa Barbara is the first to quantify the amount of oil residue in seafloor sediments that result from natural petroleum seeps off Santa Barbara, California. There is an oil spill everyday at Coal Oil Point (COP), the natural seeps off Santa Barbara, California, where 20-25 tons of oil have leaked from the seafloor each day for the last several hundred thousand years.

[Brian_G]

If we drill, we'd reduce well pressure, salt water would seep into the oil reservoirs, instead of this mess.

This is the unintended consequence of the 27 year long ban on costal exploration and drilling.

Drill here, explore everywhere and drill now.

[tina anne]

The ironic part is not drilling in that location is harming the enviroment.

[LessHypeMoreFact]

tina anne wrote:

The ironic part is not drilling in that location is harming the enviroment.

Not so sure. The release is of minor nature, and some oil CAN be accomodated from natural seeps. The area is a Nature Preserve http://coaloilpoint.ucnrs.org/ that seems to be thriving.

And it looks like it is being taken care of by the producing wells.
http://www.mms.gov/omm/pacific/offshore/22qui...
Oil production from the Monterey Formation oil and gas reservoirs caused subsequent declines in reservoir pressure, thus removing the primary driving mechanism of the seepage

[Brian_G]

We need to explore and drill off all our coasts, to prevent this kind of ecological damage.

[Mr Giblets]

LessHypeMoreFact wrote:

<quoted text>
Not so sure. The release is of minor nature, and some oil CAN be accomodated from natural seeps. The area is a Nature Preserve http://coaloilpoint.ucnrs.org/ that seems to be thriving.
And it looks like it is being taken care of by the producing wells.
http://www.mms.gov/omm/pacific/offshore/22qui...
Oil production from the Monterey Formation oil and gas reservoirs caused subsequent declines in reservoir pressure, thus removing the primary driving mechanism of the seepage

so, 25 -30 tonnes a DAY for several hundred thousand years is "Minor"? I will remember this the next time you or someone similar are bleating about some "deadly oil spill" by "capitalists".
It is criminal folly not to use this oil for energy . Or do you prefer the natural way , how Mother Earth covers birds in oil unaided?

[tina anne]

LessHypeMoreFact wrote:

<quoted text>
Not so sure. The release is of minor nature, and some oil CAN be accomodated from natural seeps. The area is a Nature Preserve http://coaloilpoint.ucnrs.org/ that seems to be thriving.
And it looks like it is being taken care of by the producing wells.
http://www.mms.gov/omm/pacific/offshore/22qui...
Oil production from the Monterey Formation oil and gas reservoirs caused subsequent declines in reservoir pressure, thus removing the primary driving mechanism of the seepage

Actually the ironic part is people like yourself who complained about how bad the Exxon Valdez think that eighty times that is ok.

Sorry but I see this as worse for the enviroment and it should be taken care of. I imagine you cannot handle having Exxon do something that could not only be good for the enviroment but make money while they are doing it.

[Brian_G]

We can stop this type of ecological catastrophe; the oil is in shallow formations, easy to drill. We can provide good oil production jobs, reduce oil imports, gain income from oil royalties that's desperately needed in California and give OPEC a nice jab of competition.

End the 27 year old ban on oil exploration and production off our East and West coasts.

[Northie]

This thread is straight from the oil industry, which stands to make a bit more profit from this oil due to lower royalties. Like most of that industry's PR pieces, it leaves out much of the truth. The Elwood Field is already producing, and has been for eighty years. A giant drilling platform is located just two miles offshore. None of this has any discernable effect on the seepage of oil from the diffuse formation.

It's a small field, so potential is limited. It's also located smack in the center of the most valuable non-urban coastline in the United States--the Santa Barbara Gold Coast--which depends on tourism for its wealth. Is that worth spoiling in return for modest oil deposits that cannot change world pricing? I don't know...and neither do any of you.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elwood_Oil_Field

[Brian_G]

"South Ellwood Offshore field

All oil drilling into the South Ellwood Offshore field takes place from Platform Holly, located about two miles (3 km) offshore.The existence of an offshore field was suspected for a long time, largely due to the persistent natural seepage of oil from the sea floor; the area around Coal Oil Point is now one of the most actively studied seep zones in the world. In 1966, ARCO built Platform Holly, in 211 feet (64 m) of water approximately two miles southwest of Coal Oil Point, and began drilling wells into the various zones in the South Ellwood Offshore field. Peak production from the field was in 1984. Mobil operated Platform Holly until 1997, at which point Venoco, Inc. acquired all rights to the field. Currently three pipelines – one oil, one gas, and one for utilities – connect the platform to the processing plant on the mainland. In addition, an oil pipeline transports oil from "tents" constructed over some of the natural seeps on the ocean floor to the processing plant.

Away from Platform Holly, much of the field is yet to be fully explored and developed. Mobil's 1995 proposal to drill from the shore (the "Clearview" project, dubbed "Drillview" by opponents) was rejected, and a proposal to drill into the more distant parts of the field from the existing Platform Holly is under consideration as of July 2008. Venoco's current proposal involves directionally-drilling 40 new wells from the existing platform, potentially tripling its production."

[tina anne]

Northie wrote:

This thread is straight from the oil industry, which stands to make a bit more profit from this oil due to lower royalties. Like most of that industry's PR pieces, it leaves out much of the truth. The Elwood Field is already producing, and has been for eighty years. A giant drilling platform is located just two miles offshore. None of this has any discernable effect on the seepage of oil from the diffuse formation.
It's a small field, so potential is limited. It's also located smack in the center of the most valuable non-urban coastline in the United States--the Santa Barbara Gold Coast--which depends on tourism for its wealth. Is that worth spoiling in return for modest oil deposits that cannot change world pricing? I don't know...and neither do any of you.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elwood_Oil_Field

IF they are depending on tourism then they should consider drilling. With the economy the way it is around the world is hurting tourism and the price of oil expected to climb it would be a great source of revenue. Not to mention it must be a shallow field.

Your problem is that your response is straight out of the environmentalist handbook. Drilling in this case makes environmental sense along with economic sense.

[Mr Giblets]

I see the enviroloonies would prefer a "natural" oil slick to actually using the wasted oil for fuel. This shows how very stupid they are.

[Northie]

Mr Giblets wrote:

I see the enviroloonies would prefer a "natural" oil slick to actually using the wasted oil for fuel. This shows how very stupid they are.

Exactly how would you recover this oil? It's not as if it springs from a single hole in the ground; it seeps from broad sills of exposed strata beneath the sea.

[Brian_G]

If we pump out all the oil underneath, saltwater would flow down, pushing the oil back.

[Northie]

Brian_G wrote:

If we pump out all the oil underneath, saltwater would flow down, pushing the oil back.

Doesn't work. This deposit has been pumped for eighty years without changing the seepage.

[Brian_G]

Then why do the oil companies want to open new wells? They must think there's easy to get to oil down there.

[tina anne]

Northie wrote:

<quoted text>
Exactly how would you recover this oil? It's not as if it springs from a single hole in the ground; it seeps from broad sills of exposed strata beneath the sea.

By releiving the pressure that is pushing it from below. By removing the oil at it's source. The tech has been in use for along time.

[tina anne]

Northie wrote:

<quoted text>
Doesn't work. This deposit has been pumped for eighty years without changing the seepage.

Sounds like they do not have enought pumps/wells to do the job.

[Northie]

Brian_G wrote:

Then why do the oil companies want to open new wells? They must think there's easy to get to oil down there.

Because they make double the margins on domestic oil that they do on foreign oil. If you haven't noticed, that is why the oil companies fund all the bogus advertising claiming that domestic drilling will solve our problems; the truth is, it'll only solve THEIR problems.

[Brian_G]

And it creates American jobs, increases tax revenues, directly pays oil royalties to the states, increases supply, breaks the Cartel production controls, and drops gas prices.

[tina anne]

Northie wrote:

<quoted text>
Because they make double the margins on domestic oil that they do on foreign oil. If you haven't noticed, that is why the oil companies fund all the bogus advertising claiming that domestic drilling will solve our problems; the truth is, it'll only solve THEIR problems.

It will solve more problems than wind and solar. It will mean less imported oil plus more well paying jobs and greater tax money. All things that wind and solar promise but cannot deliver.