The Houston Chronicle has an editorial about an oil-and-gas man named Jim Bob Moffett. Mr. Moffett pushed about $70 million down a 5.5 mile deep hole about 10 miles out in the Gulf of Mexico and found natural gas reserves in the “two trillion between 2 trillion and 6 trillion cubic feet” range.
The editorial talks about Boone Pickens having spent some time with the Chronicle editorial board at which, they learned, Boone’s next stop was at Jim Bob Moffett’s office. According to one of Pickens’ long-time friends said:
You ought to see those two (Pickens and Moffett) get together over a (seismic) map. They’re like two mad scientists. They just lose track of time. And they’re real geologists. They’ve gotten their hands dirty.”
The Chronicle editorial made the point that the Obama administration has announced taxes on the oil and gas industry. The editors point out:
“In its proposed 2011 budget the Obama administration is levying what could be a $40 billion tax increase on the oil and gas sector, according to industry advocates. This is troubling, given the widely acknowledged and demonstrable role that the oil and gas industry is playing in moving the country toward energy stability and, perhaps someday, even energy independence.”
The editorial concludes with:
The proposed taxes are punitive. They single out oil and gas in a way that figures to discourage future drilling and exploration that may well bring dividends like Moffett’s Davy Jones find and the shale formation gas bonanzas that have completely changed the energy picture domestically …That’s not right. It may seem expedient, but it’s not even very smart.
To read the entire Houston Chronicle editorial, click HERE.
— The Pickens Team