American Crude

IBD Editorials ^ | October 8, 2008

[Kaslin]

Energy: With a media wind at his back, Barack Obama regularly gets away with false and distorted statements. He repeated one Tuesday that seems superficially plausible but should not go unchallenged.

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ust as he said during the Sept. 26 University of Mississippi debate with John McCain, the Illinois Democrat claimed during the Nashville town hall setting that "we have 3% of the world's oil reserves and we use 25% of the world's oil. So what that means is that we can't simply drill our way out of the problem."

It's disappointing that McCain failed to call out Obama on his figures, because he had an opening big enough to drive an Exxon Mobil tanker truck through.

The problem isn't Obama's claim about consumption. The U.S. does go through about a quarter of the oil used across the globe (it also, by the way, produces 28% of the world's goods and services, but that's another story).

No, the real problem is that the oft-repeated claim of the U.S. having 3% or less of world reserves doesn't stand up.

Obsolete figures show that the U.S. holds just 20 billion of the 1.3 trillion barrels of the world's crude reserves.

But that doesn't include the estimated 200 billion barrels of oil trapped below two miles of shale in the Bakken Formation, a wildly rich reserve that stretches through Montana and North Dakota.

[EGPWS]

But that doesn't include the estimated 200 billion barrels of oil trapped below two miles of shale in the Bakken Formation, a wildly rich reserve that stretches through Montana and North Dakota.

Or does it include the riches unknown by lack of exploration via regulation that isn't even on the table.

The band plays on...

Outhouses and horseshoe manufacturers may make a comeback in our country some day because of planet saving generated vices.

[Right Wing Assault]

Does anyone know what % we DO have?

[richardtavor]

This is the most oft repeated lie of the left..if you include those reserves that are offshore, Alaska onshore and offshore, Lower 48 onshore shale plays and coal that they won't let us drill, we have more reserves than anyone in the world. It seems extremely hypocritical for us to beg OPEC to increase their production when we won't drill for our own. We have enough natural gas to furnish 60 million homes for 160 years if congress will get off their a$$es and let us drill. Also, some people wonder why diesel is higher than gasoline when it was cheaper a couple of years ago. Our congress, in their brilliance, passed a law a couple of years ago that forced the refiners to change from low sulfur diesel (500 parts per million sulfur) to 50 PPM. The additional $.5 per gallon is because of the extra cost of refining. Thank congress. They should stay out of the Oil Business...These numbers come from the API and the EIA (American Petroleum Institute and Energy Information Agency.) The facts are that we are the third largest producer of oil in the world, behind Saudi Arabia and Russia, we hold more reserves than any other country on earth (not the 3% that stupid quotes, and if congress will let us do our job, then we can regain our edge while we transition to other alternative energies.

[EGPWS]

Yes, we can drill our way out of the problem. Even at 3%.

And yes we can nuclear our way out of the problem.

Me thinks that it isn't that we can't produce because of inability to do so, we can't produce because of politically driven groups with political payoffs who have disdain for the American way paying for their influence via the pockets of election concerned lawmakers.

[EGPWS]

This is the most oft repeated lie of the left..

That my FRiend is a statement to get the mind reeling with thoughtful wonder!

[Gandalf_The_Gray]

That "3% of the world's reserves" is the same crapola being spread by the Pickens' shill pushing his compressed natural gas idea.

Interesting sidelight; I just converted my home heating plant from oil to NG. As there was a 5" main passing in front of my house getting the service hook-up was easy and took just a couple of hours to accomplish. The installation was done by subcontractors who handled the "underground" work with the overall supervision and meter installation done by a Wisconsin Energy field engineer. He had little to do for the first part of the job and we got to chatting a bit. I asked him about CNG as a motor fuel since WEC had been fielding test vehicles (their service trucks and city buses) for the last fifteen years or so. He said the project had been dropped as the technology available didn't provide sufficient energy storage capacity at reasonable pressures. Therefore the vehicles so equipped didn't have acceptable range. There was also concern about the safety of the general public refueling vehicles with high pressure gas. The "Gas Company" has therefore quietly shelved the project. Maybe someone should tell T. Boon Pickens before he crawls too far out on that limb?

Regards,
GtG

[5by5]

Nor does it include the oil resources locked up in oil shale. Try 1.6 trillion or 1600 billion barrels of oil or roughly 5 times the reserves of Saudi Arabia.

If/when we bring that online and we become the dominant oil producer for the next 200 years.

[AmericanFromAmerica]

I don’t know where they got those numbers. I’ve heard those bandied about but supposedly there are “only” a few billion gallons that are actually recoverable. At least with current technology. Probably better with the off-shore stuff at this point.

And to the guy trying to sell me nuclear, well, I’m certainly buying.

[AmericanFromAmerica]

Where are you getting these numbers? That would certainly be great if true...I’m sure I could drive pretty far off that. I haven’t really trusted any of the sources I’ve seen on this North/South Dakota reserve.

[5by5]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oil_shale

This is pretty common knowledge in the oil industry. What’s hard to understand is the sheer magnitude of the potential reserves. That’s why I express the reserves as a multiple of Saudi Arabian reserves.

FYI, US oil shale alone is about 25% greater than the world’s total oil reserves today.

[cquiggy]

The favorite Democrat lie is the one about it taking ten years to see one drop of oil if we start drilling today. I have seen oil industry experts say it could take as little as three years. In truth it will only take the time it takes to drill the wells and pump out the first drop because from that day forward foreign oil importation will start falling off. We have refineries right here in America not enough obviously but replacing foreign oil imports sounds like something I want to celebrate. The environuts are against drilling but its okay by them to transport imported crude oil halfway around the world risking massive oil spills.

[mosesdapoet]

check out http://www.theusmat.com/

[Kaslin]

It’s a lame excuse they are using for keeping us dependent on foreign oil. I couldn’t believe my ears when I heard ear plugs say it would take 1 years to just get one drop out of oil at the debate last Thursday, after Congress lifted the ban