Can Offshore Drilling Really Make the U.S. Oil Independent?

Scientific American ^ | 9/12/2008 | Emily Gertz

[gigster]

I am talking to my brother right now on the phone.
He surveys the Western Slope area of Colorado and states categorically that there is more oil there than the Saudi’s
have.
Also, he surveyed the North Slope in Alaska and was on ANWR
over twenty years ago.
Even at Seventy-five dollars a barrel, we could have a hundred years of recoverable oil.

[meyer]

But is it enough to free the U.S. from its dependence on foreign suppliers?

It doesn't have to free the US from buying foreign-supplied oil. All we need is to greatly reduce the leverage that foreign entities have over us right now. Fact is, we're in a weak position due to years of tree-hugging liberals that have prevented drilling for oil in areas known to be rich in petroleum.

We also lack any significant redundency in refining capacity (witness the price spike due to Hurricane Ike, along with some localized hoarding). That shouldn't happen. No single event, be it a hurricane, earthquake, or terrorist attack should be able to affect our oil supply or refining capacity significantly.

[Adder]

I despise the premise that since we may not become energy independent by drilling our own oil we shouldn’t do anything at all...

Its there, use it for as long as it lasts. By us adding to the world market supply, the cost stays low. Even if we use the oil ourselves, we have reduced our foreign dependency and worldwide supplies increase by the amount we do not buy.

But I keep hearing the same ridiculous arguments screamed like prayers off the twisted tongues of our dumblecrat buffoons: “We can’t drill our way out...” “It’ll take 10years....” “We’ll still nbe dependent on foreign oil...” sounds to me like they want us to be handicapped...ya think????

[Adder]

I despise the premise that since we may not become energy independent by drilling our own oil we shouldn’t do anything at all...

Its there, use it for as long as it lasts. By us adding to the world market supply, the cost stays low. Even if we use the oil ourselves, we have reduced our foreign dependency and worldwide supplies increase by the amount we do not buy.

But I keep hearing the same ridiculous arguments screamed like prayers off the twisted tongues of our dumblecrat buffoons: “We can’t drill our way out...” “It’ll take 10years....” “We’ll still nbe dependent on foreign oil...” sounds to me like they want us to be handicapped...ya think????

[savedbygrace]

The Pelosi Do Nothing House just voted for a bill that would allow the oil companies to drill in the oceans where the oil ain’t, more than 50 and 100 miles out.

Pelosi: Drill Where the Oil Ain’t.

One of the greatest sluggers of all time, Babe Ruth, though he was the Home Run King for many years, led the league in strikeouts because too often he would “swing where the ball ain’t”.

Swinging where the ball ain’t and drilling where the oil ain’t will both lead you to the same place, figuratively speaking: sitting on the bench.

[American in Israel]

If OPEC throttled back on their oil to try to keep the price high, it would only mean more profit for America in return. Even if oil was higher, as long as it was less percentage of our GNP going out the door, we would be more competitive compared to other nations.

Now if we got serious, we could produce more oil than we use, and pay off our national debt, thereby reducing the tax burden on Americans by half.

Not producing oil at this point is pretty stupid, it does not take science to know that.

[gogeo]

Bottom line is that this is not a panacea (but, regardless, there is an absolute requirement to drill here, drill now)

The bottom line is that there are few, if any, panaceas in life.

[gogeo]

If we drill (oil companies pay for and reaps the rewards of that risk) and NOT put that oil on the global market, our prices would hopefully go down...

Why would you think that?

[TigersEye]

Finding a single source or solution that will make the U.S. energy independent is not a question. Anyone who claims that for any solution is BSing. Ignoring any source of domestic energy is certainly part of the problem.

The Democrat "No Domestic Energy Policy!"

• No domestic drilling.
• No new refineries.
• No new nuke plants.
• No new dams for hydro-electric.
• No coal.
• No shale.
• Deplete the SPR.
• Let Iran get nukes.
• Let Iraq fall to Iranian domination.
• No Canadian tar sands oil.

All of that puts the U.S. in a position that war for oil or
complete economic collapse will be our only choices.
You can't frustrate every source of domestic energy
without consequences. Our enemies will blackmail us
to the extent that we are vulnerable to blackmail.

The Democrats are leading us into a real war for oil.
A war we won't have the energy to fight.

[ding_dong_daddy_from_dumas]

>>The primary advantages I see are twofold:

#1) We would be insulated from interruptions in supply as the result of hostile actions elsewhere in the world (embargo, war, terrorism, etc.). Our prices might rise, but at least the oil would flow.

#2) As balls pointed out in #13, the wealth would not be transferred overseas. As balls didn’t mention, though, it would be a huge cash cow to our federal and state balance sheets, from royalties paid on the production.<<

Good summary. I have another concern though.

When the leftists say that, if the federal drilling bans are lifted, it will take longer than we think to get oil to the market, they may be right, but not because we are being optimistic about new technology speeding up the process, but for reasons they don’t mention:

1) They will try to use leftist and RINO politicians to make it as difficult as they can. For example, even if California has the right to drill offshore, will the governor and legislature allow it?

2) The good old ACLU and their allies will file lawsuits which will delay, or maybe even stop, exploration and drilling both on land and offshore. Just the threat of lawsuits could cause an oil company to reconsider its business plans. We have already seen what happens when DHS tries to get employers to check immigration status.

The question is: Do the voters have enough good sense and determination to stop them? Given the number of rogue judges we already have, is it too late?

[dalebert]

Need to drill everywhere not just offshore. jobs jobs jobs.
rebuilding the coast. jobs jobs jobs.

[PapaBear3625]

According to Phyllis Martin, a senior EIA energy analyst, Atlantic and Pacific oil fields tend to be smaller on average than those in the Gulf of Mexico, but it is just as costly to drill them, making the economics of drilling these areas especially tough to justify.

But they will be less likely to have hurricane problems.

[PapaBear3625]

Even by 2030, offshore drilling would not have a significant impact on oil prices, according to Martin, because oil prices are determined on the global market. "The amount of total production anticipated—around 200,000 barrels a day—would be less than 1 percent of the total projected international consumption."

Even if it didn't lower world prices by one cent, I'd rather see our money go to pay Americans to drill in American territory, than to go to people who finance terrorists.

[Kandy Atz]

Many good things have been mentioned in this thread:

- Lower fuel prices brings down the price of everything
- End the transfer of wealth to rogue nations - $330 billion spent on foreign oil every year.
- More tax revenue (leases, royalties etc) - with the right people in power - possibly lower taxes
- More jobs and wealth creation - The North Slope in Alaska contributed $50 Billion to the nations economy, directly impacting every state in the US. It is estimated that drilling in ANWR would create 250,000 new jobs.
- Less dependence on the Middle East in general - no “blood fo oil” as the liberals might say
- More exporting nations diminishes the power of the militant-supporting regimes in the ME

These are the estimates of technically recoverable oil & gas I have seen:
Shale (Utah, Wyoming, Colorado) - 800 billion barrels (RAND)
OCS - 66.6 to 115.3 Billion barrels of oil and 326.4 to 565.9 Trillion cubic feet of natural gas (MMS)
ANWR - 9 to 16 Billion barrels (ANWR website)

And as Brazil and other countries have found, if you look, there is no telling what you might find.

Drill Here! Drill Now!!

[balls]

I don’t know why not everybody understands that every barrel of oil we produce reduces the growth of the national debt by the prevailing price of that barrel on the world market.

[balls]

Don’t forget that natural gas is a free bonus when we drill for oil. We would not have to have those natural gas tankers - potential WMDs - form the Middle East in our harbors on the East Coast.

[CatDancer]

from the article: “Current shortages of both oil rigs and skilled manpower to operate them could also bottleneck such efforts. “

---

I’m not as qualified as other FReepers to discuss most of this; I just know we have to DRILL HERE. This phrase stuck out to me in the article, “shortages of oil rigs” - well, guess why! and “lack of manpower” - well, guess why! With so little drilling for the past 20 years, a lot of good “manpower” has retired (like my ex-husband, in the oilfields all his life, but now 72) and others got older and infirm - some from oilfield injuries - those take in my 3 sons and son-in-law who were roughnecks. Now all are around 50 and not as physically fit. THEIR sons did not have a drilling industry to go into. It kind of sounds like the ancient rigs, the old refineries, the nuclear power plants that never got opened, etc. doesn’t it? The manpower is out there, and it’s Americans. One of my sons worked in a refinery recently and still can. My youngest son was a derrick man, and now I don’t want to see him go back to it because of his arthritis, but he knows offshore drilling and can sure teach the younger guys. Train them, pay them well, and watch.