Yeah, right after I hit “Post”, I forgot to add oil shale. Do you know how many barrels of water it takes to make a barrel of oil from the Green River Shale? More than is in the Green River, that is for sure. Not to mention, basically strip-mining BLM land and reclamation. The same problem exists for methanol production - it uses huge quantities of water. As soon as the economy recovers (if ever under Obamao), oil will be over $100 a barrel and it won’t be getting any cheaper in the future.
Time will tell. The experts have been predicting oil at all sorts of prices yet it remains under $80 as of now. Much higher, though, the the economy will take another major hit. We need to take advantage of our own resources.