To answer that question, I thought I'd share this article as a follow-up to Joseph's post. From Investor's Business Daily
But the figure Obama uses — proved oil reserves — vastly undercounts how much oil the U.S. actually contains. In fact, far from being oil-poor, the country is awash in vast quantities — enough to meet all the country's oil needs for hundreds of years.
The U.S. has 22.3 billion barrels of proved reserves, a little less than 2% of the entire world's proved reserves, according to the Energy Information Administration. But as the EIA explains, proved reserves "are a small subset of recoverable resources," because they only count oil that companies are currently drilling for in existing fields.
When you look at the whole picture, it turns out that there are vast supplies of oil in the U.S., according to various government reports. Among them:
At least 86 billion barrels of oil in the Outer Continental Shelf yet to be discovered, according to the government's Bureau of Ocean Energy Management.
About 24 billion barrels in shale deposits in the lower 48 states, according to EIA.
Up to 2 billion barrels of oil in shale deposits in Alaska's North Slope, says the U.S. Geological Survey.
Up to 12 billion barrels in ANWR, according to the USGS.
As much as 19 billion barrels in the Utah tar sands, according to the Bureau of Land Management.
Then, there's the massive Green River Formation in Wyoming, which according to the USGS contains a stunning 1.4 trillion barrels of oil shale — a type of oil released from sedimentary rock after it's heated.
I can understand the environmental concerns used as a justification for not opening new drilling projects. But to say that the United States lacks oil resources is just odd. I am not sure that I have heard anyone, on either side of the political spectrum, say that except for the president. Who knows? Perhaps he will convince us.
ReplyDeleteEnvironmental concerns are important for drilling in a safe manner but not to the point of not making good use of our resources. - Mike M. http://www.murraycavanaugh.com/blog.php
ReplyDeleteI grant you that the environmental concern is a legitimate one, but I see it, it is way overhyped for political reasons, as the US has among the most rigorous environmental safety standards out there for drilling. The environment card is played ad nauseam to hinder what should be relatively routine business.
ReplyDelete