Friday, July 11, 2014
Sunday, July 6, 2014
ARE WE STUCK - WITH TAR ON OUR FEET?
Summer beach day - but what's that on my feet?
Sticky globules of tar lap up onto our coastline every day. It results from natural seeps that have been spewing oil and gas into the Santa Barbara Channel for centuries. Our beaches lie along the second largest natural seep area in the world – a field with 2,100 active seeps.
Santa Barbara offshore seeps pollute beaches from Los Angeles to Monterey. Read more about impacts south of Santa Barbara here.
There is a solution - read more about that here.
Tuesday, June 24, 2014
EARTHQUAKES = SEEP FLOW
A 7.9-magnitude earthquake struck along the Aleutian Islands in Alaska at 1:53 p.m. PT. This event prompted a tsunami warning along the Pacific coast.
But are tsunamis the only threat to our coastline if a seismic event occurred?
According to Dr. Ed Keller, professor in the Departments of Earth Science and Geography, and in the Environmental Studies Program at UCSB, earthquakes in the seep areas are expected to occur, and can increase seep flow.
Following the 1925 Santa Barbara earthquake, the Santa Barbara Channel was reportedly covered with thick patches of oil.
Now don't you feel shaky about seeps? Read more about it here.
A propogation map shows the likely path of a tsunami from the June 23, 2014 Alaska earthquake. (NOAA)
But are tsunamis the only threat to our coastline if a seismic event occurred?
According to Dr. Ed Keller, professor in the Departments of Earth Science and Geography, and in the Environmental Studies Program at UCSB, earthquakes in the seep areas are expected to occur, and can increase seep flow.
Following the 1925 Santa Barbara earthquake, the Santa Barbara Channel was reportedly covered with thick patches of oil.
Now don't you feel shaky about seeps? Read more about it here.
Sunday, June 22, 2014
STILL IRAQ-ING DOWN THE HIGHWAY
But how much longer can we? And how much will it cost us at the gas pump?
Yes, Iraq is still rocking.
Rockier still is the task of interpreting conflicting analyses of the impacts of this week's events on world, and US, oil supply.
Iraq's largest oil refinery was set ablaze this week. Smoke from the fire is visible from space.
In an interview with NPR, Robert McNally, president of the Rapidan Group, an energy consulting firm, reported that the price of oil climbed nearly 4% in just a few short days following the refinery attack, "This jaw-dropping blitz assault ... and the threat it posed to the Baiji refinery, the Baiji electrical power plant, and really the stability of Iraq itself, just caused the market to panic," Though the militants are still a long distance north from Iraq's main oil producing region of Basra, on the Persian Gulf, Amrita Sen, chief oil market analyst with Energy Aspects in London, says that distance doesn't provide much relief, for two reasons. "One, the militants are progressing towards the south very, very quickly. And two, the Iraqi army's complete inability to stop them ... The fear factor is huge in the market at the moment." McNally adds "There's also concern the Sunni militants' all-out charge through Iraq could spark widespread sectarian violence, possibly pulling in regional players."
Others say that 4% is a small blip and that an insurgence far enough to the south to impact the main producing areas is unlikely. A Vox headline stated "ISIS surrounded Iraq's largest oil refinery. Why aren’t oil prices spiking?" The piece points out that the most important reason for the minimal reaction is that Baiji isn't important to the global oil supply, and quotes Steve Mufson of the Washington Post, who explains, "Baiji doesn't really export petroleum. It's mostly responsible for domestic supply, and largely within the areas contested by ISIS at that. Since Baiji doesn't produce for export, global markets aren't all that concerned."
But, as stated by The Economist, "...as on so many occasions since 1980, war, sanctions and domestic upheaval have constrained the huge potential of OPEC’s second-biggest producer. The chances of restarting exports from northern Iraq (via a pipeline crippled by sabotage in March), and of investment and modernisation in the country’s south, are looking slimmer by the day."
But CNBC reports on a Citigroup analysis, which says that oil production could increase because of the conflict. "Our base case is in the short run, we do get more oil. That base case is based on the Kurdistan Regional Government maintaining its independence and security and Baghdad maintaining its control over the southern oil field," said Edward Morse, head of global commodities research at Citigroup.
Back and forth and forth and back...
Wouldn't it be better to not have to worry locally about an international situation over which we have no control?
Even with these conflicting predictions, one thing is abundantly clear. To quote Jordan Weismann's Moneybox blog on Slate, Iraq's crisis should make us thankful for America's oil boom. As he states, this boom is making the world oil markets more resilient. Were it not for the US drilling revival, the market would be far less equipped to deal with even small disruptions, much less something catastrophic.
When can we add oil and gas production offshore Santa Barbara to this boom? SOS would be able to add "stabilization of world oil markets" to the list of local benefits including cleaner air, water, and beaches: increased funding for county services; and increased funding for renewables.
Yes, Iraq is still rocking.
Rockier still is the task of interpreting conflicting analyses of the impacts of this week's events on world, and US, oil supply.
Iraq's largest oil refinery was set ablaze this week. Smoke from the fire is visible from space.
Clearly the refinery, and the city, were attacked. But we don't yet know who controls the Baiji refinery, the largest in Iraq. Journalists are reporting that the militants are now in now control, but a military spokesman is denying the reports, according to Aljazeera.In an interview with NPR, Robert McNally, president of the Rapidan Group, an energy consulting firm, reported that the price of oil climbed nearly 4% in just a few short days following the refinery attack, "This jaw-dropping blitz assault ... and the threat it posed to the Baiji refinery, the Baiji electrical power plant, and really the stability of Iraq itself, just caused the market to panic," Though the militants are still a long distance north from Iraq's main oil producing region of Basra, on the Persian Gulf, Amrita Sen, chief oil market analyst with Energy Aspects in London, says that distance doesn't provide much relief, for two reasons. "One, the militants are progressing towards the south very, very quickly. And two, the Iraqi army's complete inability to stop them ... The fear factor is huge in the market at the moment." McNally adds "There's also concern the Sunni militants' all-out charge through Iraq could spark widespread sectarian violence, possibly pulling in regional players."
Others say that 4% is a small blip and that an insurgence far enough to the south to impact the main producing areas is unlikely. A Vox headline stated "ISIS surrounded Iraq's largest oil refinery. Why aren’t oil prices spiking?" The piece points out that the most important reason for the minimal reaction is that Baiji isn't important to the global oil supply, and quotes Steve Mufson of the Washington Post, who explains, "Baiji doesn't really export petroleum. It's mostly responsible for domestic supply, and largely within the areas contested by ISIS at that. Since Baiji doesn't produce for export, global markets aren't all that concerned."
But, as stated by The Economist, "...as on so many occasions since 1980, war, sanctions and domestic upheaval have constrained the huge potential of OPEC’s second-biggest producer. The chances of restarting exports from northern Iraq (via a pipeline crippled by sabotage in March), and of investment and modernisation in the country’s south, are looking slimmer by the day."
But CNBC reports on a Citigroup analysis, which says that oil production could increase because of the conflict. "Our base case is in the short run, we do get more oil. That base case is based on the Kurdistan Regional Government maintaining its independence and security and Baghdad maintaining its control over the southern oil field," said Edward Morse, head of global commodities research at Citigroup.
Back and forth and forth and back...
Wouldn't it be better to not have to worry locally about an international situation over which we have no control?
Even with these conflicting predictions, one thing is abundantly clear. To quote Jordan Weismann's Moneybox blog on Slate, Iraq's crisis should make us thankful for America's oil boom. As he states, this boom is making the world oil markets more resilient. Were it not for the US drilling revival, the market would be far less equipped to deal with even small disruptions, much less something catastrophic.
When can we add oil and gas production offshore Santa Barbara to this boom? SOS would be able to add "stabilization of world oil markets" to the list of local benefits including cleaner air, water, and beaches: increased funding for county services; and increased funding for renewables.
Sunday, June 15, 2014
IRAQ AND ROLL
SOS California was recently asked to testify at a hearing
for the House of Representatives Committee on Natural Resources, Energy and
Mineral Resources Subcommittee. The
title of the hearing was “Energy Independence: Domestic
Opportunities to Reverse California’s Growing Dependence on Foreign Oil.” In the hearing announcement, the Subcommittee
stated, “Today, California
gets 50 percent of its oil from foreign sources and half of those imports come
from the Middle East through the Strait of Hormuz.”
According to the
most recent data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA), 18.5 percent
of California’s oil imports are from Iraq.
You’ve been
listening to the news this week. You
must be asking yourself this:
WHEN IRAQ ROCKS, HOW CAN OUR CARS STILL
ROLL?
If that vision isn’t graphic enough, look at the pie chart
below.
http://energyalmanac.ca.gov/petroleum/statistics/2013_foreign_crude_sources.html
Fears surrounding the impact of the conflict on oil supply and prices are already appearing in the national and international press:
·
The Australian: Escalating violence in
Iraq has sent crude oil prices to a nine-month high amid fears supplies could
be disrupted. Sunni-led
militants are tightening their grip on towns in the north
and east of Iraq, sparking concerns that their advance south could put the
output of the region's second-biggest oil producer at risk.
·
The New York Times: The
oil markets are likely to remain on edge, as escalating tensions in Iraq prompt
concerns over supplies in the major oil-producing country. Although a sharp
spike in prices looks unlikely at this point, the fighting in Iraq and turmoil
in other major oil producers are expected to keep prices relatively high, a
situation that could put pressure on gasoline prices during the summer driving
season.
·
NPR: When Sunni
militants began seizing broad swathes of territory across northern Iraq last
week, global oil markets shrugged it off. After all, instability in Iraq is
nothing new. But that all changed on Wednesday, when the insurgents swept into
the oil refinery town of Baiji, says Robert McNally, president of the Rapidan
Group, an energy consulting firm. The price of oil climbed nearly 4 percent in
just a few short days.
Why are we still
depending on Iraqi oil when extracting oil from formations off Santa Barbara
would clean our beaches, air and water? Isn’t it time to ROLL out a new energy strategy???
Sunday, June 8, 2014
NOW THIS IS UNUSUAL - OIL PRODUCTION REDUCES POLLUTION!
Researchers at the Marine Science
Institute at the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB) study the seep
fields. During a conversation with SOS Co-Founder Lad Handelman, Dr. Bruce
Luyendyk, professor and Chair of the Department of Geological Sciences,
estimated the amount of oil being released from seeps located south of Point
Conception as at least 10,000 gallons each day.
Now this is really unusual - Dr.
Luyendyk confirmed that there is a significant decrease in seep release and
pressure as a result of the ongoing oil extraction from the very formations
that feed the pollution off Coal Oil Point.
So the Santa
Barbara Channel is leaking oil – the seeps have been called “an environmental
disaster happening in slow motion.” Pretty unusual.
Another way this area is unusual -
the Santa Barbara Channel is unusually rich in natural resources – resources
that can be impacted by oil pollution. It is the only place in the world that
serves as feeding and/or breeding grounds to 27 species of marine mammals.
Recent studies have focused on the behavioral, thermal, and physiological
impacts on marine mammals from contact, inhalation, and ingestion of oil.
Oil can be especially harmful to our resident and migrating seabirds—particularly diving birds that must get their nourishment by entering the water. Oil destroys the insulation and waterproofing properties of their feathers - this can cause hypothermia. Also, birds that are unable to fly because of oil-matted feathers become easy prey. A review of recent data from the International Bird Rescue Research Center(IBRRC) and the Santa Barbara Wildlife Care Network (SBWCN) shows that, offshore between Ventura and San Luis Obispo, it’s likely there are approximately 600-800 birds per year (or more) that become oiled due to seeps. An unknown number of those (perhaps 50-80%) die from hypothermia.
Seeps pollute the air as well, by
releasing methane, a potent greenhouse gas, into the atmosphere. To put it in
perspective, seeps contribute much more hydrocarbon pollution than all Santa
Barbara surface mobile vehicles e.g. cars, trucks, trains and planes (Air Pollution Control District Clean Air Inventory, 2007).
Let's discuss - are there other ways to reduce pollution while gaining energy?
Sunday, June 1, 2014
CALIFORNIA OIL - A NEW BEGINNING
CALIFORNIA OIL
We at SOS California have seen many changes in the last year. We saw great opportunities - collaboration with a local social media powerhouse leading to a revamp of our website; a re-invitation to testify to the House of Representatives in Washington, DC. But we felt a devastating blow - the loss of Co-Founder Bruce Allen.
Spring is a season of renewal, though, so in that spirit, SOS California would like to reintroduce you to our blog, California Oil.
There is an old saying - that anything worth saying is worth saying twice. Maybe, I just made that up...
you will see some re-posting, but you'll see lots of new information as well. And, more than anything - WE WANT YOUR COMMENTS.
LET'S START THAT ENERGY CONVERSATION!!!
IT’S SO UNUSUAL
Santa Barbara, California is an unusual place. Those of us who live here have chosen this place because we know this. First there is the unusual beauty – an astonishing confluence of mountains and sea, on an east-west trending coastline in a southern state. This unusual geology also contributes to another interesting undersea phenomenon – natural oil seeps. The Santa Barbara Channel has the second largest natural oil seeps in the world – second only to the Caspian Sea.
Oil released in large quantities by accident is considered pollution. What, then, about oil seeps? They are natural. In fact, it is estimated that the volume of oil emitted each year is equivalent to that of the 1969 Santa Barbara oil blowout, and every four years it approximates the oil spilled in connection with the Exxon Valdez accident. Are these seeps a source of pollution?
We at Stop Oil Seeps (SOS) California believe that seep pollution, while it occurs naturally, is still simply that -- pollution -- and that there is a solution that falls into that “unusual” category.
Please stay tuned for future posts - and check out our revamped website:
http://www.soscalifornia.org/
Please stay tuned for future posts - and check out our revamped website:
http://www.soscalifornia.org/
Thursday, May 29, 2014
SOS EVENT IN SANTA BARBARA NEWS-PRESS!!
May
23, 2014 6:29 AM
The
oil industry benefits the environment in a number of ways, a scientist said
Thursday at a community forum.
Dr. Scott Hornafius, president of Elk
Petroleum and visiting research scientist at the Earth Research Institute at
UCSB, held a talk titled "What Is The Oil Industry Doing To Reduce Green
House Gas Emissions?" at the Cabrillo Pavilion Arts Center. The forum
was hosted by Save Our State California. "Every time I get into an oil
project, it ends up cleaning the environment," Dr. Hornafius told the crowd
of more than two dozen people. "I'm not talking about small change. I'm
talking about really spectacular changes in the environment. "
Oil
production can reduce natural oil seepage, Dr. Hornafius said. Pumping has
cleaned the tar off the beaches in Santa Barbara over the past 40 years and
reduced Santa Barbara's air pollution, he said. This cleansing of
above-ground oil pollution worldwide also reduces methane concentration in
the atmosphere, Dr. Hornafius said.
Fracking, or hydraulic fracturing,
increases productivity of oil and natural gas wells. The practice has come
under criticism from environmental groups, but Dr. Hornafius referred to it
as "the crime without a victim. "No clear evidence exists of
fracking being harmful, he said. Instead, fracking has allowed a switch from
coal to natural gas, resulting in a 30 percent decrease in carbon
dioxide emissions from electricity generation in the United States. "When
the fracking revolution happened, we had so much natural gas in this country
and we couldn't export it," Dr. Hornafius said. "It was trapped
here. The price of natural gas and oil in our country de-coupled." The
price of natural gas in the United States collapsed, due to an influx of
natural gas and a reduced reliance on oil.
Dr. Hornafius's daughter, Kayla, a graduate student at Miami
University of Ohio, gave a presentation on the benefits of capturing carbon
dioxide emissions from corn ethanol and other biofuel plants, then using the
carbon dioxide for enhanced oil recovery from old wells. This plan would
create "carbon negative oil," meaning it would take carbon from the
atmosphere and redeposit it into the Earth, removing one of the major
contributing gases that contributes to the greenhouse effect. Negative carbon
oil is the only method of retrieving oil that results in the actual removal
of carbon from the atmosphere, but at this point it is blocked by California
regulations, Dr. Hornafius said. "We're going to do this project in
Nebraska. We're going to make carbon negative oil. We're going to see if
there's any interest in making carbon negative oil. We're going to see if
anyone cares," Dr. Hornafius told the News-Press. "The only state
that has in place legislation that would incentivize people to make carbon
negative oil is California, but the regulators are trying to not allow that
to be a solution."
email: ddailey@newspress.com
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Thursday, May 15, 2014
SOS California Invites Public to Discuss What the Oil Industry is Doing to Reduce Greenhouse Emissions, May 22
Thursday, May 22
9:15 - 10:30 am
Cabrillo Pavilion Arts Center
1118 East Cabrillo Blvd., Santa Barbara
A public forum discussing Greenhouse Gas Emissions and what the oil industry is doing to reduce them will be held at the Cabrillo Pavilion Arts Center in Santa Barbara at Thursday, May 22. The event will feature J. Scott Hornafius BA PhD (Geology) and the discussion will include the impacts of oil production and fracking in shale gas reservoirs and capturing CO2 emissions, as required by the California Low Carbon Fuel Standard legislation.
Topics to be covered:
- Oil production reduces natural hydrocarbon seepage, which cleaned the tar off the beaches in Santa Barbara over the past 40 years and reduced Santa Barbara's air pollution due to oil production from Platform Holly, but also caused a worldwide reduction in the methane concentration in the atmosphere due to oil production around the world.
- Fracking in shale gas reservoirs lowered the price of natural gas, which caused power plants in the US to switch from coal to natural gas over the past five years, resulting in a 30% decrease in the CO2 emissions from electricity generation in the US. The same CO2 emission reductions could occur worldwide if fracking were to spread outside of North America.
- Capturing CO2 fermentation emissions from corn ethanol and other biofuel plants and using the CO2 for enhanced oil recovery to make carbon negative oil will remove CO2 from the atmosphere, and provides a way for California to economically reach the goal of reducing the carbon intensity of its transportation fuels by 10% by 2020, as required by the California Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) legislation.
About J. Scott Hornafius
J. Scott Hornafius BA PhD (Geology) - Executive Director of Canning Petroleum Pty, Ltd has 30 years of global experience in oil and gas exploration and development. He was President and CEO of MegaEnergy, Inc., from 2000 until 2011, during which time he oversaw the land, geophysical, drilling and production operations of the company. Scott still serves as a Director of MegaEnergy and is founding shareholder of the company. MegaEnergy was a pioneer in the Marcellus Shale development in Appalachian Basin, and is currently involved in two Marcellus Shale Horizontal drilling projects in Pennsylvania. While serving as President of MegaEnergy Scott raised $15.5 million in private equity from sophisticated oil and gas investors, and was responsible for negotiating $120 million in asset sales. Prior to founding MegaEnergy, Scott had a successful career with Mobil Oil Corporation, including management and technical roles in projects involving onshore and offshore California exploration, heavy oil steam floods, horizontal drilling projects, and North Sea and Gulf of Mexico deep-water exploration programs. Scott served as Geological Manager in Papua New Guinea for Mobil Oil in 1989-1991 and was a secondee in 1997-1998 to the Licensing Branch of the Department of Trade and Industry in the British government, in which he administered the 8th Landward Round.
About SOS California
SOS California is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to reducing the environmental impact of natural gas and oil seep pollution upon our ocean, our beaches and air quality through education and awareness.
For further information contact Judy Rossiter, judy@soscalifornia.org
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Monday, May 12, 2014
It's Time to Educate Santa Barbara about Natural Oil Seeps!
Up until approximately 30 years ago, Santa Barbara schools would include facts about the offshore natural oil and gas seeps (located in the Santa Barbara Channel) within their curriculum. Unfortunately, today the knowledge of why we have tar on our SB beaches is not as readily available to both students and teachers. Often the offshore oil production take the blame for oil slicks in the water and tar on our white sand beaches, while the fact is actually just the opposite: offshore oil production has contributed to a cleaner marine environment in Santa Barbara.
This morning, SOS received a testimony from a concerned parent of a Santa Barbara student:
“I am a native to SB. My son came home and told me about a teacher (high school) that was almost in tears about getting tar on her feet on a SB beach and blamed the oil platforms for the problem. I had to explain to him that it's from "natural oil seeps" in the SB Channel and that long before we were here the Chumash used the tar from the beaches to repair their boats. I told him the teacher was wrong to tell the class the tar was from oil platforms. Then I did a quick search on google and found you. Your website is very helpful and educational.”
This exemplifies some of the issues in the Santa Barbara community that we at SOS California would like to address:
- The lack of information about the oil in the water/tar on the beaches due to changes in the local educational curriculum - and the world-wide phenomenon that is unique to Santa Barbara (home to the 2nd largest offshore oil & gas seeps in the world!)
- The perpetuation of myths from our children's ill-informed teachers/educational system (where is our environmental educators on this?)
Help us inform our local community about the concerns with natural oil seepage! We would like to invite any Santa Barbara local to the discussion.
- What are your experiences with tar on the beaches?
- What did you learn about it in school?
- How do you think we can change the way we educate our community about these issues?
Please SHARE your experience, it is valuable to us, you and the Santa Barbara community!
Thursday, April 10, 2014
SOS Testifies at Hearing in Washington DC
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According to the California Energy Commission, California produces only about 37.2 percent of the petroleum it uses. In 2007, the state spent nearly $50 billion for gasoline and $9.7 billion for diesel. Petroleum-based fuels account for 96 percent of the state's transportation needs. The tremendous and growing cost of oil imports was addressed by the Committee, with Ms. Green questioning the assumption that the U.S. will be able to continue to borrow overseas money for the next 30 years, while running a 600 billion dollar a year trade deficit primarily due to imported oil. More important, a Los Angeles Basin Crude Oil Supply study forecast shows that by 2020 over 80% of California oil will be imported from foreign countries. 
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