There just isn't that much there. We need to find an alternative to oil.
There are huge amounts of US Oil Shale and Canadian tar sands. Huge amounts. They cost more to refine because you have to cook the oil out of them. That's the reason they're basically untouched so far.
I'm for drilling. People always under estimate production technology.
Time to drill - ANWAR, California, Gulf Coast, National Parks, etc.
There just isn't that much there. We need to find an alternative to oil."
Baloney. There is a LOT of US oil and gas that could be available that is off-limits solely for political reasons. ANWR has about 10 BILLION barrels of recoverable oil. Just one lease area alone off the Cali coast has 1 BILLION barrels. Gas reserves off the Cali coast are huge. ... There are BILLIONS of barrels, worth over $1 trillion, in oil and gas off California's coast. We dont drill because the US Government forbids it. Now, it's time to CHANGE that:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2006/01/26/MNGPEGT2O21.DTL
"Pombo is considering new hearings on a bill that would end the 23-year-old moratorium on offshore drilling, allowing drilling for natural gas -- but not oil -- on about 85 percent of the nation's coastline that is now off-limits. Pombo is also pushing a plan to give states the ability to opt out of the moratorium to drill for either oil or gas."
To understand how absurd this limit is, consider:
http://www.mms.gov/omm/pacific/offshore/oil-and-gasfaq.htm
"OCS operations are carefully conducted and regulated to ensure safe and environmentally sound operations. Since the tragic oil spill in Santa Barbara in 1969, about 833 barrels of oil have been spilled as a result of OCS natural gas and oil operations offshore California. This spillage represents the cumulative loss from cups or a barrel at any given time, but for a 150 barrel spill from a pipeline in State waters carrying exclusively OCS production to shore. The California nearshore and coastal areas are replete with natural seeps. It is estimated that over 1,000 barrels of oil each week are released into the environment from these seeps. (From the Coal Oil Point seeps alone, almost 200 barrels a day may be entering the ocean.) There is some evidence that commercial production of the reservoirs offshore has reduced the amount of oil that would naturally seep into the marine environment by reducing pressure in the reservoirs."
In other words, NATURAL oil seepage off the Cali coast dwarfs the oil seepage from oil drilling by a factor of 10,000 to 1, and yet we forbid drilling because of the fear of oil seepage. Go figure!!
BALONIE!!
See post 15,plus we have enough coal to convert to oil in this country to last OVER 100 years! Diesel fuel made from coal burns cleaner than diesel distilled fron oil.
By Ben Lieberman
December 20, 2005
Drilling for oil in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) makes so much sense, it's no wonder opponents must twist the facts to make it controversial. Yesterday, at last, common sense prevailed when the House passed by 308-106 a bill to authorize development of ANWR.
We're talking about 10 billion barrels of domestic oil in an area where there has been a proven track record for environmentally responsible drilling. Yet a host of tall tales from environmental activists and like-minded journalists has made it a tough fight in Washington.
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Prudhoe Bay has produced more than 10 billion barrels of oil since the 1970s, which has been transported through the Alaska pipeline to the domestic market in the Lower 48 states. That drilling also was done with decades-old technology and methods far less environmentally sensitive than ANWR would require.
U.S. Geological Survey - 1980. In 1980, the U.S. Geological Survey estimated the Coastal Plain could contain up to 17 billion barrels of oil and 34 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.
U.S. Department of Interior - 1987. After several years of surface geological investigations, aeromagnetic surveys, and two winter seismic surveys (in 1983-84 and 1984-85), the U.S. Department of Interior (DOI), in its April, 1987 report on the oil and gas potential of the Coastal Plain, estimated that there are billions of barrels of oil to be discovered in the area. DOI estimates that "in-place resources" range from 4.8 billion to 29.4 billion barrels of oil. Recoverable oil estimates ranges from 600 million barrels at the low end to 9.2 billion barrels at the high end. They also reported identifying 26 separate oil and gas prospects in the Coastal Plain that could each contain "super giant" fields (500 million barrels or more).
In 1996 the North Slope oil fields produced about 1.5 million barrels of oil per day, or approximately 25 percent of the U.S. domestic production.
Jobs To Be Created Between 250,000 and 735,000 ANWR jobs are estimated to be created by development of the Coastal Plain.
Economic Impact Between 1977 and 2004, North Slope oil field development and production activity contributed over $50 billion to the nations economy, directly impacting each state in the union.
America's Best Chance for a Major Discovery The Coastal Plain of ANWR is America's best possibility for the discovery of another giant "Prudhoe Bay-sized" oil and gas discovery in North America. U.S. Department of Interior estimates range from 9 to 16 billion barrels of recoverable oil.
Alaskans Support More than 75% of Alaskans favor exploration and production in ANWR. The Inupiat Eskimos who live in and near ANWR support onshore oil development on the Coastal Plain.
Administration Taps NPRA for 2 Billion Barrels of Oil Pombo praises move, questions logic in leaving ANWR’s 10.4 billion barrels untouched
Washington, DC- House Resources Committee Chairman Richard W. Pombo (R-CA) commended the Administration’s decision yesterday to open nearly 400,000 acres in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska (NPRA) for oil leasing and development. But Pombo also pointed out that production in just 2,000 acres of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) would produce more than five times the amount of oil.
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“The Administration is opening nearly 400,000 acres to access 2 billion barrels of oil. Yet some in Congress continue to thwart the House and Senate majorities who support opening just 2,000 acres of ANWR to access 10.4 billion barrels of oil. What is wrong with this picture?
http://resourcescommittee.house.gov/Press/releases/2006/0112npra.htm
Reports indicate that ANWAR alone is over 20 year's worth of Saudi Arabia.