I believe that eventually they would do more exploration. At present even if Congress voted to allow offshore drilling it would be several years before the exploration ships were available.
It seems that they are only being made by a few shipbuilders in Asia and due to demand there is now a three year time lag between placing an order and taking delivery of an oil exploration ship.
In addition, since we are talking about major oil corporations and not independents like T Boone Pickens, it will probably take just as long for them to reach a decision to buy as it does to get the ships.
So, In my opinion, if Congress voted today to allow offshore drilling it would be a good six years before exploration started and it would probably be another six years before rigs were in place and producing.
Then of course there is the next issue, namely the need for additional refining capacity. I believe that US refineries are all running at or near capacity. That means in order to take advantage of new sources of oil more refineries will have to be built. Which of course leads to -- NIMBY! No one wants an oil refinery in their back yard. They smell and they are perceived as being hazardous.
Jerry-the-bookkeeper
If Congress voted to allow offshore drilling, would the oil companies do more exploration?
Oil companies are currently making too much money. Paradoxically, this is not a desirable position to be in. A lot of big companies fall apart if they don't handle their income correctly.
It makes no sense to look for more oil when you already have too much stock. And yes, that is exactly the current situation.
If oil companies went offshore then it would be exploration only. It will be some time before these places produced any oil.
the current available land for off shore drilling has no oil.
They want to open areas that actually have oil. With the price of oil so high, the US Oil compnay could make a lot of money drilling.
dont know but its a good question
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