The Rising Influence of Rising Affluence

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RE "At issue are the Arctic and Atlantic waters that the Obama administration excluded from future drilling leases. "

Obama had ambitious plans to open up the Atlantic OCS for leasing and had to withdraw when BP eff it up with Macondo. As it turns out, BP probably ended up saving a lot of money for the rest of the industry with the vast shale resources being succef=ssfully developed. Shell had done quite a bit of exploration r&d on eastern OCS and it is mostly gas. As for the Arctic waters, forget about that. It will be economically difficult. Even more so now than when oil prices were double what it is now.