Posted on 10/31/2025 12:03:27 AM PDT by Libloather
The U.S. has only "scratched the surface" of its oil potential, with new technologies and untapped resources emerging that could help cement America’s energy dominance for years to come.
"The biggest opportunity is to recover more of the molecules that are in the ground," Chevron CEO Mike Wirth told FOX Business in an exclusive interview.
Currently, only about 10% of the oil in place can be extracted with existing technology — a figure Chevron aims to increase.
Wirth told FOX Business’ Maria Bartiromo that the company is investing in a new generation of drilling innovations, including artificial intelligence-powered systems and fiber-optic sensors that adjust fracking operations in real time. He said the goal is to fine-tune how fractures move through rock formations.
When Bartiromo suggested the U.S. has only "scratched the surface" of its oil potential, Wirth agreed — saying advances in technology and innovation could extend America’s energy dominance well into
Wirth’s conversation with Bartiromo — part of her two-day trip to the Permian Basin in Texas — underscored how U.S. innovation and resource strength could secure America’s economic and energy future.
"The Permian Basin is the part of the world that has delivered most of the oil production growth over the last decade to meet all the demand growth in the world," Wirth said.
"It's made the U.S. the No. 1 producer, and it's a massive area. It's the size of the U.K. and has rewritten the history books of oil and gas."
(Excerpt) Read more at foxbusiness.com ...
Dear FRiends,
We need your continuing support to keep FR funded. Your donations are our sole source of funding. No sugar daddies, no advertisers, no paid memberships, no commercial sales, no gimmicks, no tax subsidies. No spam, no pop-ups, no ad trackers.
If you enjoy using FR and agree it's a worthwhile endeavor, please consider making a contribution today:
Click here: to donate by Credit Card
Or here: to donate by PayPal
Or by mail to: Free Republic, LLC - PO Box 9771 - Fresno, CA 93794
Thank you very much and God bless you,
Jim
Most my adult life I’ve had to listen to enviro whackos.
Democrats that hate personal freedom.
They can’t regulate you, if you have a car and
can drive from Seattle to Miami whenever
you please.
I always knew we have way more oil and
mineral resources than they will acknowledge.
It means they can’t control you, like
having to depend on a subway, bus, or train they
set a schedule for.
Freedom to move about, live where you want,
go to schools, that don’t offend you,
offends them.
Democrats hate freedoms they can’t control.
When our mom was still alive, she told us that in her youth, they said that the human race would run out of oil in.........1936.
Oil used to be a waster product, because they were after the valued brine.
Excellent article—and great news.
Wirth is right—the next energy revolution isn’t just in new wells, it’s in smarter ones. AI-driven drilling and real-time data optimization could unlock far more oil from existing fields while cutting waste and emissions. The U.S. is leading because it innovates.
This is just one small example of how AI is going to transform our economy.
That's the beauty of business.
Most of my life I’ve heard the cry,
of voices fearing liberty,
who’d trade the wheel for leash and tie,
and call it wise necessity.
They’d bind the road, confine the range,
regulate the miles you roam,
forget that freedom, vast and strange,
begins with choosing where is home.
They speak of limits, oil, and earth,
but seldom of the will to go—
for motion is the measure’s worth
of all the dreams that humans know.
So let me drive from coast to coast,
from sea to shining liberty;
the open highway is the host
that keeps the soul forever free.
Some sort of siren call with its irresistible appeal to the reading public.
Do people think that no one has ever in the past tried to increase recovery of oil in place?
For the time being, what AI does is read the internet in a hyper fast way in order to answer questions. If my question is how can I increase the recovery of oil in place the answer necessarily will be application of techniques currently already being applied.
There’s no magic. About the only magic you could suggest was applied in about 2009 when interest rates went to zero and that enabled shale to fracture. The loans became free and an oil could flow despite it being essentially at a loss. Well those loans are not free anymore and that’s more or less why the Permian guys think next year will be peak production.
The amusing method suggested in geology seminars for increasing the recovery of oil in place generally presumes the creation of a Star Trek style transporter that can beam The rock to the surface where it can be 100% pulverized and the liquid within obtained. And usually in the discussion it will be pointed out that with Star Trek style transporters you can move people from point a to point b without burning any gasoline and the whole thing becomes pointless.
Yes.
One of my dear professors (when colleges used to educate, not indoctrinate), put it nicely.
“For the last 100+, humanity had always ~20 years of oil left.
Why?
Because it does not pay to look for oil past 20 years into the future!”
Lefties don’t even like wind/solar because if it worked they would be against the added economic activity that would result.
Fracking is great for the first few years of production then the well production drops off really fast. They need to fix that.
Pump Gaia for all she is worth.
Drill horizontally into Canada and take the oil from there.
States like WA, OR, and CA will not allow searching for Oil and gas let alone drill.
Chevron CEO Mike Wirth joins 'Mornings with Maria' to discuss America's untapped energy power, new drilling technology and why the U.S. has only 'scratched the surface' of its oil potential.'We've Just Scratched the Surface':
Oil giant reveals America's hidden energy empire | 10:03
Fox Business | 3.23M subscribers | 208,024 views | October 29, 2025
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
