For informational purposes! This is a coil tubing drilling rig move here in north americas largest oil field, Prudhoe Bay Alaska. A coil tubing rig utilizes an oil well that is no longer competitive, kicks out (drills sideways) out of the old tubing and drills its way to a new section of rock to continue to produce oil out of a well that would otherwise be cemented, plugged and capped off (properly abandoned) these types of drilling operations happen 24hours a day 365 days a year in existing oil fields. This is not the result of political changes. However the US consumes somewhere around 20 million barrels of oil per day, we as a country produce around 14 million barrels per day. So we have to import the difference, most of our imports come from Canada. Some of the other big exporting countries are Mexico, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Brazil and Russia. As you can imagine the environmental regulations and requirements in these countries are minimal or nonexistent compared to the ones we have in America and Canada, especially on Alaska’s North Slope. So producing oil and gas on America soil rather than importing it from countries with lesser regulations it’s by far better for the world environment as well as better for our US economy. As world wide demand for oil and gas continues to go up every year it’s better for the world as a whole for the US to be an exporter rather than an importer. As obnoxious as the term “drill baby drill” sounds to some people it’s the best thing for the environment (and the US economy) short of waving a magic wand and converting all energy world wide to renewable energy only. Just food for thought from a North Slope worker.
#oilandgas #drillbabydrill