Fluid situation

According to an article published earlier this week in The New York Times, something people would have thought impossible a few years ago, when the price of gasoline as well above $4 a gallon, has been happening of late. U.S. oil refineries have been closing. There hasn't been a refinery built in this country since 1979, but a prolonged drop in the demand for gasoline by U.S. motorists over the last few years has produced excess refining capacity that is being idled. The lengthy recession is credited with much of the slump in demand, but more fuel-efficient vehicles could be playing a role as well.

We offer this as background to County Commissioner Pat Mulieri's call for a workshop to discuss the possible lifting of the ban on oil and natural gas drilling off the Florida coast, a prospect that alarms her and some other Pasco officials.

Not only is the demand for gasoline down, but the nation's reserves of recoverable onshore natural gas are exploding, thanks to drilling techniques that were barely known at this time last year. So by the time anyone might think of drilling for oil in the waters off the Suncoast, it may no longer be worth the cost, if the current trends hold.

This suggests that whatever threat offshore oil drilling might pose to Pasco County's beach-related tourist industry - which is only slightly larger than its snow-skiing industry - is much more theoretical than real.