Unfortunately most folks do not understand the risks / rewards of the oil and gas industry so they can easily be manipulated by the likes of Bob Shavelson.  Dragging Beluga Whales into the conversation is blatantly deceptive and is nothing more than a red herring argument.  As I said, not all natural gas is the same and it is dishonest to compare a underwater sour-gas (H2S rich) blowout with a methane leak.  H2S is very toxic whereas methane is not.  

When it comes to evaluating the cost to the state of the lost natural gas, the AOGCC is the agency that looks after our interests. Because the gas is not being produced on the platforms, I suspect that there is no $ impact to the State from lost royalty. The royalty has already been paid on the leaking gas. I agree that waiting to repair the line seems like a waste but I do not understand all of the economics of the oil production trade off.