Blacks Will Not Own Offshore Oil Rigs Now

African Americans do not own energy infrastructure in the United States [except maybe Nigerian-born Kase Lawal]. Of the roughly 4,000 oil production rigs in the Gulf of Mexico, none of them are owned by Blacks. The BP Gulf Disaster will put more pressure on large and small firms alike to operate in the Gulf of Mexico as a result of the BP accident. The possibility of Blacks getting into the offshore oil business in the Gulf of Mexico just became impossible.

AAEA will continue to examine this issue as we address mitigation of the disaster.

Smaller oil companies could never handle the costs BP is paying out as a result of the Gulf oil disaster. Some smaller firms include:

Plains Exploration & Production Company
Noble Energy Inc.
Kerr McGee
Ocean Energy
Unocal
Cobalt International Energy
ATP Oil
Gas Corporation

[See list of Current Deepwater Operators]

Although a federal judge lifted the moratorium this week on drilling in deep water in the Gulf of Mexico, it will become more expensive and have much tighter regulations and some companies and investors will not think it is worth the effort. The rising cost of insurance premiums, longer estimated time frames for completing projects and the potential lifting of a $75 million cap on oil spill liability make the independents' role uncertain. Shareholders are not going to want small exploration and production companies in the deep water because it is cost-prohibitive and the risks are too great. (WSJ, 6/22/2010)