Permitorium or Permatorium (permit + moratorium)

“Permitorium” (permit + moratorium) was cited twice on October 12, 2010, when U.S. President Barack Obama’s administration lifted the almost six-month ban on offshore energy exploration. Thomas J. Pyle, president of the Institute for Energy Research, said, “Today’s announcement is about politics and headlines, not getting folks back to work and increasing domestic energy exploration and production in the United States. The moratorium may very well be a thing of the past, but a permitorium remains the guiding policy of this Administration.” An October 12, 2010 story on the Institute for Energy Research’s website was titled “Good Bye Moratorium, Hello Permitorium.”
 
Louisiana Congressman Steve Scalise said, “Today’s announcement does nothing to address the uncertainty that has caused thousands of people to lose their jobs in the energy industry. Until they lay out a clear path toward the issuing of new drilling permits, the Obama administration continues to send the message that they’ve established a ‘permitorium’ that denies people the ability to go back to work even if they’re complying with increased safety standards.”

A “permitorium” means that, although an official “moratorium” might not be in effect, there is an equivalent to a moratorium if permits are not issued. 
 
“Permatorium” (permit + moratorium) is another spelling, also derived from the same two words. The spelling “permatorium” was used in a comment to the October 12, 2010 Institute for Energy Research article where “permitorium” was used.
   
   
Institute for Energy Research
Good Bye Moratorium, Hello Permitorium
By Laura Brewer
Posted October 12, 2010
Washington, DC – With the mid-term elections just over two weeks away, the Obama Administration today decided to lift the nearly 6-month ban on responsible offshore energy exploration, according an announcement Secretary Salazar made at a press conference this afternoon. Thomas J. Pyle, president of the Institute for Energy Research, issued the following statement, challenging the Interior Department to be straight with the America people on the de facto ban that remains in place:
 
“Today’s announcement is about politics and headlines, not getting folks back to work and increasing domestic energy exploration and production in the United States. The moratorium may very well be a thing of the past, but a permitorium remains the guiding policy of this Administration.”
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COMMENTS
isopodextra  4 months ago
The assault continues with this “permatorium” and over-regulation of all our energy producing industries by EPA and the Dept of Energy.
       
WDSU.com
La. Leaders Weigh In On End Of Drilling Moratorium
Consensus: Decision A ‘Step In Right Direction’
POSTED: 1:04 pm CDT October 12, 2010
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U.S. Rep. Steve Scalise
“Today’s announcement does nothing to address the uncertainty that has caused thousands of people to lose their jobs in the energy industry. Until they lay out a clear path toward the issuing of new drilling permits, the Obama administration continues to send the message that they’ve established a ‘permitorium’ that denies people the ability to go back to work even if they’re complying with increased safety standards.
 
“The administration needs to stop playing games with the people who work in America’s energy industry, and finally lay out a clear path that allows permits to be issued using safer standards that quickly get people back to work. One of the biggest factors leading to job losses in the energy industry is the uncertainty that exists in the permitting process, and today’s announcement does nothing to address those concerns.”
     
Heritage.org—The Foundry
Drilling Permitorium Continues
Posted November 15th, 2010 at 11:00am
Although Congress lifted the ban on deepwater drilling in October and drillers are eager to return to work, the government still has not issued any permits. And the news is unlikely to improve much next year.
   
Wall Street Journal
NOVEMBER 22, 2010
The EPA Permitorium
The agency’s regulatory onslaught has stopped new power generation.
President Obama is now retrenching after his midterm rebuke, and one of the main ways he’ll try to press his agenda is through the alphabet soup of the federal regulators. So a special oversight priority for the new Congress ought to be the Environmental Protection Agency, which has turned a regulatory firehose on U.S. business and the power industry in particular.
   
Hot Air
Federal judge holds Obama administration in contempt over drilling “permitorium”
posted at 2:55 pm on February 3, 2011 by Ed Morrissey
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The government has not issued a permit to drill in nine months, evidence that the White House has attempted to evade Feldman’s orders.  The lawsuit alleges that thousands of jobs have been lost in the “permitorium,” as some have dubbed the policy, and that the loss of American production has hiked costs and made the US more dependent than ever on imports.  It also drove investment in exploration out of the US and into places like Brazil.  The economic damage from the permitorium will take years to reverse, as major rigs have already departed the Gulf.
 
Heritage.org—The Foundry
Permitorium: 103 Gulf of Mexico Drilling Plans Await Government Approval
Posted February 4th, 2011 at 8:00am
As oil prices continue to climb, a backlog of more than 100 offshore drilling plans for the Gulf of Mexico are awaiting approval from the Obama administration, according to federal data.
 
The federal government has not approved a single new exploratory drilling plan in the Gulf of Mexico since lifting its deepwater drilling moratorium on Oct. 12. There are currently 103 plans awaiting review by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement.
   
San Francisco (CA) Examiner
Obama’s Gulf oil permatorium claims first victim in drilling industry
By: Mark Tapscott 02/12/11 4:39 AM
Editorial Page Editor
President Obama’s post-Deepwater Horizon diaster foot-dragging, slow-walking permatorium ban on oil and natural gas drilling throughout much of the Gulf of Mexico appears to have claimed its first victim among domestic drilling companies.
 
WorkBoat.com
Let’s just call it an offshore drilling ‘permitorium’
Dale DuPont
February 21, 2011
If you haven’t already, add the word “permitorium” to your offshore industry dictionary. According to the Interior Department’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement (BOEM), it’s defined as inaction on Gulf of Mexico (GOM) drilling permits.
 
For how to use it in a sentence, see Hornbeck Offshore Services’ fourth-quarter report and listen to the offshore service vessel operator’s Feb. 17 quarterly conference call with analysts. The outlook for this year is “limited to select operating data due to prevailing market uncertainty caused by the GOM ‘permitorium,’ ” the company, which led the legal charge against the moratorium, said. Technically, the ban has been lifted.