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There is evidence aplenty that despite all the Obama and Progressive Marxists will do to block our petroleum developments the US will be petroleum self-sufficient by 2020.

I have been making this argument as well but I have to admit I do so with very thin data for support.

The idea of self-sufficiency should be a major plank in the GOP's 2012 campaign. The relationship to national security, the preservation of the American standard of living and our need to create real jobs should be obvious. So it is important that we start to make real, supportable arguments in favor of that position. And then push for the GOP to run hard on the issue.

So ... can you point me to any credible sources to support your argument for the achievement of self-sufficiency in energy production in the relatively near term?

I think we can at least agree that merely the possibility of energy independence based on shale reserves is enough for Obama and his minions to do everything they possibly can to restrict that development.

Which is one of the most important reasons to make sure he is not re-elected.

The problem is that there is no such thing as "energy self-sufficiency" in the U.S. without some dramatic changes in government fiscal policy. Unless the U.S. dollar strengthens against other world currencies, we'll likely end up in a situation where U.S. oil reserves are tapped and oil is produced in abundance -- but with increasing amounts of it getting exported to other countries.

With the U.S. maintaining long-term trade deficits with almost every country in the world, those countries have a lot of U.S. dollars to invest and will likely end up using them to buy our oil.

Seriously, there have been so many articles I’m afraid I cannot point to one. However, you can Google, energy self-sufficiency USA. To get a real understanding of the situation, you might want to spend some time investigating the oilfield shale oil activity in: the Bakken, of North Dakota; the Eagleford of Texas; the Niobrara of the eastern Rocky Mts; the Marcellus of Pennsylvania. To my personal knowledge, I believe horizontal drilling has begun to give new life to oilfields in Kern County, California. Then there were two recent offshore oil bonanzas in the Gulf by Shell and BP. The two states that appear to be gaining jobs rather than losing them are North Dakota and Texas where drilling is moving at a fast pace. Usings an economic indicator of just how fast things are progressing you can check the daily market price for natural gas. At its current price it is quite cheap, and that alone demonstrates that the United States can be within five years an exporter of liquified natural gas. Generally speaking, most Americans are ignoraant of the situation because the Obama Admininstration is so set against petroleum developments. However, progress is occuring on privately held land and in states the Feds cannot control. Saludos.