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Gold/Mining/Energy : coastal caribbean (cco@) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Edwin S. Fujinaka who wrote (2652)	4/30/2001 10:15:25 PM
From: Edwin S. Fujinaka	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 4686

The 2000 Annual Report for CCO includes this story from The Florida Times-Union: jacksonville.com Friday, February 9, 2001 Story last updated at 7:02 p.m. on Thursday, February 8, 2001 NATURAL RESOURCES: Black gold While in session this year, legislators will wring their hands and deplore the scarcity of money for all the uses they have in mind individually. But the fact is that state government is big business, and has substantial financial resources. The state runs a lottery, taxes liquor heavily and gets a share of the tobacco industry profits. Revenue from the gambling, liquor and tobacco interests alone is enough to float many large companies. The state also has 16 million permanent residents who contribute a significant part of their income. Also, 40 million visitors to the state each year shed money by the carload while enjoying the state's features. Finally, it has a gold mine on its shoreline. The untapped oil deposits in the Gulf of Mexico are worth billions. In 1941, the state of Florida wanted that money badly and it leased drilling rights for the oil in perpetuity. The current holder is Coastal Petroleum. It has the rights to a strip three miles wide and 210 miles long, from Apalachicola to the Naples area. However, for the past 30 years, the state has tried to keep Coastal from exercising its rights and recently it won. But Florida will pay for the victory. Changing public policy is one thing. But you can't sell rights, collect payments for 60 years and then cheat the lessee out of the ability to exercise those rights. Coastal has filed an inverse condemnation suit in state court and the issue of how much the state will have to pay will be decided there. No matter what that cost, the oil will remain offshore. Along the coast of Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi, oil wells are busy supplying petroleum for the world energy markets. Oil rigs are not an environmental threat. Nearly 25,000 rigs have been operating in the gulf for more than 25 years, and the total amount spilled has been 999 barrels of oil. For comparison, that amount of oil that oozes out of the underground deposits into the waters of the gulf each year totals about 120,000 barrels. Geologists believe there are huge oil deposits of Mideast proportions off Florida's coast. The state could derive as much as 20 percent of the revenues if that oil is recovered. At some point, energy needs and the state's revenue needs are going to make it imperative to retrieve that oil. Meanwhile, it is money in the bank.