We have all heard the meme of the lefty moonbats since their previous notion of "approving drilling won't immediately effect price" was shot down all over the blogosphere in terms of how speculators would react. Their current meme is Big Oil needs to drill in the 68 million acres they already have leases. Even he who is the all seeing, all knowing, McDreamy candidate of nothing but empty cliches of Hope and Change in the future based on Hope, Barry Hussein Obama, has weighed in:“I want you to think about this,” Barack Obama said in Las Vegas last week.
“The oil companies have already been given 68 million acres of federal land, both onshore and offshore, to drill. They’re allowed to drill it, and yet they haven’t touched it – 68 million acres that have the potential to nearly double America’s total oil production.”
Evidently, McDreamy is a master geologist as well. However, what he who claims omnipotence and omniscience but continues to show ignorance doesn't realize is that just because you have a lease does not mean there are recoverable resources there. Barry makes the big assumption that every acre holds the same amount of fuel.
However, the facts from someone who actually studies this stuff shows a different picture. If we follow the empty "logic" of Barry and the lefties, the 9.4 billion acres of the currently non-producing moon should yield 654 million barrels of oil per day.
"If we extrapolate from today’s production rates on federal lands and waters,” the authors write, the oil companies could “nearly double total U.S. oil production”, writes Nick Rahall, chairman of the House Resources Committee.
Here are some more facts about the energy and drilling issue.
Exploratory and development drilling has increased across the board since 2000.
Drilling of (oil and natural gas) exploratory wells (2000-2007) up 98%;
Drilling of (oil and natural gas) development wells (2000-2007) up 92%;
Drilling of exploratory oil wells (2000-2007) up 138%;
Drilling of developmental oil wells (2000-2007) up 89%.
73% of all exploratory and development wells in 2007 were for natural gas.
· Over the same period (2000-2007), however:
Domestic crude oil production has decreased 12.4%;
Domestic crude oil production has fallen to levels not seen since 1947; and
Imports of crude oil have increased 10.4%.
The 946,000 barrels per day increase in imports is almost as much as ANWR would be producing today if it had not been blocked in 1995.
Regarding wells and drilling, The U.S. Minerals Management Service notes that only one of three wells results in a discovery of oil that can be recovered economically. In deeper water, it’s one of five.
So, the libs continue this meme about this 66 million acres trying to tell us that this is the real goldmine, when we actually have knowledge about great prospects for untapped energy reserves:
Yet companies are not allowed to explore where the biggest prospects for oil and gas may exist – especially on the Outer Continental Shelf. Seven of the top 20 U.S. oil fields are now located in analogous deepwater areas (greater than 1,000 feet) in the Gulf of Mexico. In 2006, Chevron discovered what is likely to be the largest American oil find since Prudhoe, drilled in 7,000 feet of water and more than 20,000 feet under the sea floor. The Wilcox formation may have an upper end of 15 billion barrels of recoverable oil and should begin producing by 2014 – perhaps ushering in a new ultradeepwater frontier.
But wait, there is more prospective good news from people who actually study this stuff, as opposed to the doom and gloom from Bullwhip Pelosi and the supposedly Omniscient but yet consistently flip flopping Barry Obama:
Likewise, in April, the U.S. Geological Survey revised its estimate for the Bakken Shale, underneath the badlands of North Dakota and Montana. The new assessment – as much as 4.3 billion barrels of oil – is a 25-fold increase over what the Survey believed in 1995. Such breakthroughs confirm that very large reserves exist, if only Congress would let business get at them.
Obama and the left continue to talk about energy independence, but all they have are platitudes and supposedly "common sense plans" that are two years behind from when they were supposed to be released (yes Nancy, we remember you saying back when gas was 2.50 that you had a plan, are we seeing what passes for common sense by you people?). All they have is appeasement to the wacky enviro weenies to the point that now they are shutting down alternative fuel options (solar) for "environmental reasons."(see TIB Radio post this past weekend) Lovely, I tell ya....The Democrat Nominee and party: We cut off our nose to spite our face...and want to do the same to you....
I've got a great idea...give us some facts and truth, for once, Barry, and stop worrying about "artful" responses (see DC gun ban case flipflop.)
Americans want real answers. More Americans are realizing we need to DRILL HERE, DRILL NOW, PAY LESS.
