[houston1]

my understanding, which I haven't seen discussed anywhere, is that the the oil in ANWR is heavy crude, which we don't refine in the U.S., so it will be sold to a country that does, thus a lot of time and energy is being wasted on this issue, and it isn't going to result in less dependence on foriegn oil, since we won't use the crude that comes from there in this country anyway.

[Petronski]

Citation?

[cspackler]

my understanding, which I haven't seen discussed anywhere, is that the the oil in ANWR is heavy crude, which we don't refine in the U.S., so it will be sold to a country that does, thus a lot of time and energy is being wasted on this issue

So, if what you say is true... why would anyone want to invest the capital to do it in the first place?

[finnman69]

great site here, USGS analysis of the area

Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, 1002 Area, Petroleum Assessment, 1998, Including Economic Analysis

http://pubs.usgs.gov/fs/fs-0028-01/fs-0028-01.htm

[thackney]

You are not correct in the refining capabilities. Alaskan Oil price is based upon the West Coast Markets, where the majority of it is sold.

You could learn a lot about US and World refining capabilites at:
http://www.eia.doe.gov/pub/oil_gas/petroleum/analysis_publications/oil_market_basics/Refining_text.htm#U.S.%20Refining%20Capacity