Why are we still dependent on foreign oil?

[EKYhunter]

Why are we still dependent on foreign oil? In my opinion the current leadership of this country, GW Bush and Congress, and his predecessor, WJ Clinton, have failed the American people. We are likely more dependent on foreign oil than we were 16 years ago. Why has neither administration done anything about it? In the future I think conflicts will evolve around countries who have oil such as Russia/Iran and those who don't such as the US, France, and England. Throw in the fact that we get our oil currently from countries that hate us and I think it's WW3 in the making. Look who Russia supports, namely Iran, throw in the Chineese for good measure, and add the fact that Musharif is about to be run out of Pakistan and things really start looking bad. I think that this conflict will make Iraq look like a walk in the park.

I think that Clinton was way to soft on terror and Bush has done pretty good overall with terror as evidenced by a lack of any more 911s. But both have failed to get the American people on the path to energy independence! To me this one of, if not the biggest, issue facing our country. Let's not even mention immigration!

I'm also skeptical that either Osama or McCain has what it takes to meet these challenges. What do you guys think about this?

[oldksnarc]

I agree that we should be less dependent than we are. However, we have more untapped reserves than all of the middle east. We do rely on getting oil from countries that hate us, but we get 60% of our foreign oil from Canada who is a friend. The current price per barrel is more about speculators and liberals than it is the actual cost of producing that barrel.

But, if you'll notice, the price per barrel keeps going down after the President lifted the ban on new drilling (although the liberal congress voted that down). That's because the speculators realize they are nearing the end of being able to rape us with the prices.

[stevebeilgard]

i constantly write to my govt. folks in washington. i hope you do, too. and i sign petitions. i believe we should drill all over, wherever there is oil.but, the greenies keep us from it. i see a tidal wave swelling up for this election. if mccain had a brian ( which he doesn't) he'd be all over this thing, demanding congress to drill everywhere, especially anwar. i think mccain may actually lose this election by doing stupid things, when he could have easily won.

[oldksnarc]

Yes, McCain is missing the boat on making this the main issue of the election. I do, however, think that we can drill for or refine shale oil while still protecting the environment like the environmentalists and liberals want - while still reducing our dependence on foreign oil and conserving resources and reserves for future generations.

The liberals and tree-huggers would have us believe they are the salvation and it is their way or no way. We sit on too much to allow ourselves to be dependent on any other country.

This planet has been here so much longer than us and overcome much greater threats than us. Who are we to think we are so omnipotent that we can ruin this planet. We are but flecks and a fleeting moment in this planet's history and we'll be long gone before this planet even feels that we were here.

[wtnhunt]

We sit on too much to allow ourselves to be dependent on any other country.

Could not agree more. Whether it be through offshore drilling or shale, there is no reason this country should be in the position it is in. It really is a sad situation when our lawmakers in DC put their political agendas ahead of the constituents who voted them in. Last I heard some 78 percent or so of American voters asked said that they were in favor of drilling here and drilling now. It is blatantly obvious that Pelosi has no regard for the American people.

[EKYhunter]

I think you all make great points but I still assert that we need to free of oil dependence. I think the government should be offering some major prize money to either business's or individuals who can come up with energy related ideas that will work and which reduce our dependence on oil. I also whole heartedly agree that McCain should be making this issue and how it relates to the economy his #1 taking point/platform issue. Why doesn't he?

[wtnhunt]

I think you all make great points but I still assert that we need to free of oil dependence. I think the government should be offering some major prize money to either business's or individuals who can come up with energy related ideas that will work and which reduce our dependence on oil. I also whole heartedly agree that McCain should be making this issue and how it relates to the economy his #1 taking point/platform issue. Why doesn't he?

Only one problem with becoming totally independent of oil, and that is that millions of people will not have the resources to invest in new vehicles which do not emit any type of gases and run on other sources. That is a factor that can have an impact on the economy as is obvious. Unfortunately some people(liberals) cannot grasp that as reality.

As far as McCain taking that as his number 1 platform, it should be up there no doubt, and I agree that it should certainly be getting more attention than what he is giving to the issue. There is absolutely positively no doubt whatsoever and it is not a secret that if fuel prices and transportation prices in this country come down, that consumer confidence and spending will go up. Pretty basic economics, really not sure why he is not being more aggressive on this topic.

[Ohiobucks]

I'm going to play devils advocate here, just a thought that popped into my head, and I'll throw it out there for some thought and feedback. I don't necessarily think this way, but do you think attacks similar to what happened on 9/11 would increase if we cut out dependency on foreign oil, or even just cut it in half? I'm not saying we would be living in fear, but we are living in real life - dealing with a bunch of nut job whackos.....

Fact is, we need to start drilling here now to impact pricing and demand on a world wide level. Pump it out of the ground, refine it for $15 a barrel, sell it to ourselves for $20 a barrel and sell some of it to China for $200 a barrel....(my math may be off a bit, I have no idea what it costs to refine oil)

[wtnhunt]

I'm going to play devils advocate here, just a thought that popped into my head, and I'll throw it out there for some thought and feedback. I don't necessarily think this way, but do you think attacks similar to what happened on 9/11 would increase if we cut out dependency on foreign oil, or even just cut it in half? I'm not saying we would be living in fear, but we are living in real life - dealing with a bunch of nut job whackos.....

Fact is, we need to start drilling here now to impact pricing and demand on a world wide level. Pump it out of the ground, refine it for $15 a barrel, sell it to ourselves for $20 a barrel and sell some of it to China for $200 a barrel....(my math may be off a bit, I have no idea what it costs to refine oil)

I don't think so Tom, at least not as long as we keep terrorist groups fighting us oversees, and so long as our government uses whatever resources it has to in order to disrupt, find, and fully prosecute those who wish to kill us, rather than coddling to human rights actvists and liberals who think the rights of killers and illegals are more important than the rights of our own taxpaying law abiding citizens.

Far as your math goes, don't see us selling it to China at $200 a barrel, however we do need to stop China or Russia from drilling near Cuba, and reclaim what should rightfully be ours and keep it here. The global oil prices really vary pretty dramatically, China without any question has made a huge impact on the prices that most of us see.

[Predator]

My frustration is our government leaders can't handle a plan that requires more than 4 years. And everyone wants it all one way or the other.

We need at least a 15 to 30 yr plan. It needs to be communicated and we need to stick to that plan. That gives everyone (car buyers, manufacterers etc.) time to transition. We will need crude oil for many years no matter how good we get at transitioning to other energy sources. Making more drilling connected to developing additional options sounds sensible to me. This country once went from steam to oil. I am sure that did not happen overnight. (Besides - I want my 2005 8 cylinder 4.7 liter Dakota pickup to run 15 more years without having to drop in an electric motor. )

[stevebeilgard]

I'm going to play devils advocate here, just a thought that popped into my head, and I'll throw it out there for some thought and feedback. I don't necessarily think this way, but do you think attacks similar to what happened on 9/11 would increase if we cut out dependency on foreign oil, or even just cut it in half? I'm not saying we would be living in fear, but we are living in real life - dealing with a bunch of nut job whackos.....

Fact is, we need to start drilling here now to impact pricing and demand on a world wide level. Pump it out of the ground, refine it for $15 a barrel, sell it to ourselves for $20 a barrel and sell some of it to China for $200 a barrel....(my math may be off a bit, I have no idea what it costs to refine oil)

the turbin wearers are filthy rich from us buying oil, and they use lots of our money for the radicals to wage ware on us. why can't we put oil prices at the going rate and pay off our national debt, rebuild social security, etc??? it would work if we could get people in washington to quit spending money at a record pace. yea, right:D

[wildthing]

middle eastern countries have a significant amount of money invested in the US Stock Market and economy. Thus, unfortunately not doing business with these countries is never going to happen.

When it comes to oil, yes the US could drill in other areas of tap into our own reserves.

Just follow the all mightly dollar to the end of the crooked rainbow...there you will find an old white man in a business suit or a middle easterner in a white gown...both getting rich!

[johnf]

Short answer:

NANCY $^%$*#* PELOSY

[Texan_Til_I_Die]

Short answer:

NANCY $^%$*#* PELOSY

Wait, you left off Harry $^%$*#* Reid!

[Leo]

The drilling ban in this country is a Democratic party staple.

That's right, we're not tapping our own oil because the Democratic party has made it illegal.

They are pushing alternative energy sources and skirting what we haven't used. Are we sick of this?

YES WE ARE!!!

[EKYhunter]

Yes we are sick of it! Why did it take Bush eight years to bring up lifting the ban? Someone earlier posted about having a 30 year plan and they are exactly right. This country needs to be developing ideas in order to get away from oil dependence.

[terry264]

Get ready for oil to take a big jump again. Hurricane Gustav is heading for the Gulf of Mexico after it crosses Cuba and will build to a cat. 5 quickly in that warm water,,,,sheeeesh.

[wtnhunt]

Yes we are sick of it! Why did it take Bush eight years to bring up lifting the ban? Someone earlier posted about having a 30 year plan and they are exactly right. This country needs to be developing ideas in order to get away from oil dependence.

Bush did not just now start asking to lift the ban or look at drilling in anwar. He has talked about this going all the way back to 2001. What is a shame is that he did not lift the ban before Dems gained control.

Last polling numbers I heard somewhere in the neighborhood of three quarters of Americans asked approved of using our resources now, yet Pelosi and Reid still hold up what would give us all some relief and as a result also help to stiimulate the economy.

[johnf]

Yes we are sick of it! Why did it take Bush eight years to bring up lifting the ban? Someone earlier posted about having a 30 year plan and they are exactly right. This country needs to be developing ideas in order to get away from oil dependence.

We've done nothing about it because it wasn't hurting us at the time. Now we've been caught with our pants down and our dependence is bighting us on the butt. We were lured in with low gas prices, the gradually got it up to $2 a gallon and then found a way to double it over a short period of time. Oil prices have forced the price of everything that has to be moved, cooked, processed or manufactured up.

It's everyones fault who trusted OPEC after the disaster of the 70's.

[Rhino]

First off just so you'll know, years ago I vowed not to argue about politics and religion. Since this is something I have 30+ years of experience in from being an oil and gas explorationist I'll try to lend a helping hand with some facts since some stated here are wrong.

With that said, here we go.

Why are we still dependent on foreign oil?

Well the United States consumes 25% of world oil production. Our consumption is about 22 million barrels of oil/day while our domestic production is about 8.5 million barrels a day. As of 2005 we were ranked 3rd in the world in estimated proven oil reserves. Brazil has passed us since then with a giant oil field discovered within the past year. The latest figures I've found show we import approximately 60% (rounded off) of our oil and it does not all come from unfriendly countries. Sure some does.

Hears a list of where we currently get our imported oil with the top 75% shown with the percentage we get from them.

Canada - 19%

Saudia Arabia - 10.5%

Mexico 10.3%

Venezuela - 9%

Nigeria - 9%

Iraq - 5%

Algeria 4.7%

Angola 4.5%

Russia - 3%

The reamining 25% is spread out between a number of other counties and any one of them accounts for less than 2%. The bigger exporting countries in this group are Brazil, Kuwait, United Kingdom, Netherlands, Norway, Columbia, and Ecuador.

Fact is our domestic oil production is in decline. The big oil fields in areas open to exploration have already been found. At current demand I see no way we can make up that 60% of imports from new oil discoveries in areas currently closed to drilling. That includes Anwar, offshore west coast and offshore east coast. At peak oil production from Prudhoe Bay 2,000,000 barrels of oil were produced per day. We're staring at needing some 13.5 million barrels of oil per day to be independent from oil imports. That is assuming domestic demand doesn't increase which I believe it will with our population growth. If you really think we can drill and produce enough oil on a daily basis to meet our own demand, you're kidding yourself. You might as well believe in Santa Clause and the Easter bunny. However, if given the opportunity we could certainly put a serious dent in our foreign oil dependence.

Why has neither administration done anything about it?

Well Clinton vetoed opening up a Anwar when it came across his desk. Although Bush favored it, Congress and the Senate didn't. Not even when the Republicans controled it. After all, gas was relatively cheap back then. It was more politically correct to them for votes to be considered more on the side of the environmentalist side of the issue. Fact is for the most part the politicians in Washington don't have a clue what the oil and gas exploration business is about anyway. Hey...we've been spoiled with relatively cheap oil up to now. Europeans have been paying $6 and $7 per gallon for years with govt. taxes on their fuel ranging from $3 to $4 per gallon. They already learned how to conserve while we really haven't.

I'm also skeptical that either Osama or McCain has what it takes to meet these challenges. What do you guys think about this?

I'm sure they don't. I don't think there's any politician that does right now. If we're lucky there will be one in 2012.

There's another problem we are currently facing when it comes to drilling. That problem is a shortage of tubular goods. You can drill all the wellls you want but if there's no casing and production tubing to run in them you sure can't produce that oil. Right now the company operating a wildcat project that I bought a small interest in early this year is waiting for more casing to drill wells they had in their plans to drill this year. The project I bought a small percentage in was supposed to be drilled in the 2nd quarter of this year. Now it looks like it will most likely be drilled in the 1st quarter of next year. Another project I only have a royalty interest in was supposed to be drilled in the 1st half of last year. That company hopes to be drilling it in the 4th quarter of this year. Currently steel mills simply can't meet the demand. Hopefully this problem will be overcome in the near future.

[EKYhunter]

Thank you for your post Rhino, it's a very good one. I think our leadership (Both dems and repubs) have failed us miserably in this area. Leadership should be anticipating these kinds of problems, and addressing them, even when it's not the politically expedient thing to do. Likely more so. We need to be getting off oil, whether that means, natural gas, wind, electric, nuclear, I don't know. Oil is like a big albatros hanging around our necks and we need shed of it. I know this can't be done overnight but I think we need to see our leadership starting to get us taking baby steps at least. Thanks again for your post!