Bernard Eckhardt: Not a good time to drill

Regarding the Jan. 20 news article “Offshore drilling debate goes on”: Elected officials seem unaware of the cost of energy. To propose offshore drilling in the current climate of depressed energy prices is foolish and a waste of time.

They need only ask one question of the people proposing to drill: What cost per barrel of oil will their drilling support? One need only look at the current state of gas/oil extraction in this country to see that low prices for oil and gas have priced many producers to the point that they are no longer making profits. Profits mean continuing to extract, so when there are little or no profits, drilling is no longer affordable.

Offshore drilling is something that takes years to develop, and when there are no profits to support it, it simply cannot be done. Now is not the time to be dealing with this, and our elected officials need to let it go.

For-profit companies will come when the price per barrel rises to a point that supports the development of drilling sites. We are not there at this time.

This story was originally published January 26, 2016 at 4:54 PM with the headline "Bernard Eckhardt: Not a good time to drill."