Drilling For Oil Is Not The Answer
by Lester Brown, Washington, D.C on 09.30.08
As attention turned to the second round of the energy debate in the U.S. Senate, my colleague Jonathan Dorn at the Earth Policy Institute put together a brief summary of the facts behind drilling, gasoline prices and America's energy future.
As he wrote, "Geological and economic realities make clear that drilling for oil cannot make the U.S. energy independent or reduce gasoline prices. Drilling is an expensive and dangerous red herring, especially because far better options exist."
The energy debate will continue for some time and in many variations. I hope you find the information below useful. It is also posted on-line, with references.
How Much Crude OIl Does The USA Consume And Produce?
. The United States consumes nearly 21 million barrels of petroleum per day (7.5 billion barrels per year), one fourth the world total.
. Of the crude oil consumed in the U.S., 66 percent is imported.
. The U.S. is on pace to spend over $500 billion on petroleum imports in 2008.
. U.S. oil production currently occurs onshore in the lower 48 states (2.9 million barrels per day (mbd)), offshore (1.4 mbd, primarily in the Gulf of Mexico), and in Alaska (0.7 mbd).
More Drilling Cannot Make the U.S. Energy Independent
. The U.S. Geological Survey estimates that 10.4 billion barrels of oil are technically recoverable in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR)--less than one and a half years of consumption.
. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) estimates that of the 59 billion barrels of technically recoverable oil in the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) of the lower 48 states, only 18 billion are off limits under the federal moratorium.
. DOE projects that lifting the OCS moratorium would not increase production before 2017 and that by 2030 production would only amount to 0.2 million barrels per day--less than 1 percent of current consumption.
. Total U.S. proved oil reserves are estimated at 21 billion barrels--less than a 3 year supply at the current rate of consumption.
. Since peaking in 1970, U.S. crude oil production has declined 47 percent. World production could be peaking now.
More Drilling Will Not Reduce Oil or Gasoline Prices
. DOE projects that opening ANWR would lower gasoline prices at the pump by a mere 2 cents per gallon.
. Lifting the moratoria on drilling in ANWR and the OCS would reduce the price of a gallon of gasoline by at most 6 cents--and this would not be seen for at least another decade.
. Oil is traded as a global commodity and its price is set on the world market. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) could simply reduce exports to negate even the nominal potential price reduction, a fact acknowledged by DOE.
We Can Move Beyond Oil
. The increase in U.S. automobile fuel economy standards to 35 miles per gallon of gasoline mandated by the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 is projected to save more than 1.1 million barrels of oil per day in 2020--roughly half of current U.S. imports from the Persian Gulf. Technology exists to raise standards higher faster.
. Electrifying the U.S. transportation system and restructuring urban transport could reduce petroleum consumption by over 50 percent, nearly eliminating the need for imports.
. Wind-generated electricity could power plug-in hybrid cars, such as GM's prototype Chevy Volt, at the equivalent of less than $1 per gallon of gasoline.
For information on Earth Policy Institute'splan to restructure transportation systems and move away from oil, see Plan B
3.0: Mobilizing to Save Civilization, available for free downloading.
Image credit:Oil Drilling Bit,Te Era, New Zealand
Archival Posts On Oil Drilling
Hurricane Ike, Missing Drill Rig, And Oil Spills: It's The System ...
Tax & Spend Versus Drill & Spend: An Alaskan Political Conundrum ...
Human (And Probably Environmental) Cost Of Drilling Tracks Oil's ...
Thirsty for more? Check out these related articles:
- Big Food’s War on Biofuels
- Un-Treehugger Events of the Year
- Focus Earth: December 20, 2008: Saving the Condor & OPEC Cuts
- Run Cars on Green Electricity, Not Natural Gas
New NETGEAR Routers Help Battle Phantom Power
|
Second Lives: A Mixture of Frailties by Susie MacMurray
|
What a wrong-headed conclusion. NOTHING WILL SOLVE THE PROBLEM. Many things, including drilling, can be PART OF the solution.
Here is the reality. We need oil. Lots and lots of oil. You can whine and blather about renewables all you want, but it does not change the absolute 100% pure unadulterated fact that our entire economy is based on oil, and this will not change for decades.
Now, given this FACT, which do you prefer?
A: Drilling our own oil, creating tens of thousands of high paying jobs and hundreds of billions and possibly trillions in tax and revenues for state and federal governments, while increasing world oil supplies by ~1%, thereby lowering prices a bit from ~2015 to the 2030s
or
B: Borrowing trillions of dollars from the Chinese in order to buy the oil from the Saudis at absurd prices
If you pick B, you are a moron.
THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!!!!!!
I'm so glad to see someone on here have common sense about this issue.
We can't just forget about oil. Besides being used in cars, how about all the plastic products that are used everyday, and I don't mean bottles so don't bring that up. I mean in medical, safety, and OH MY GOD renewable energies use plastic too.
Again Thank You Ogemaniac
Right on, ogemaniac! Methinks the Treehuggers have been visiting the Hope-ium den too often, which has impaired their ability to think rationally (hence, their shameless plugging for Obama). The fact remains that only energy independence can give us the financial wherewithall to create new jobs while funding the renewable energy infrastructure that will save our planet. Doing nothing and making nothing means more of the same in perpetuity...
I think it's also worth noting that oil companies export oil and biodiesel from the US too. Even the pittance of oil that can be drilled isn't guaranteed to end up in the US.
At last DOE report the US consumes 20.7 million barrels of oil a day. 70% is used for transportation.
Even the highest oil industry claims are that offshore drilling would only yield 0.2 million barrels a day & would take billions of dollars & years to bring online. That's
Furthermore, all the oil in ANWAR would only last the US 18 months. All the oil in Antartica even if we took it all, would only last the US 24 months. These are government & oil industry numbers.
http://www.eia.doe.gov/basics/quickoil.html
Total US oil production peaked in 1970. With all the new technology & sky-high prices we produce less oil now than we did in the 1940s. Even Saudi Arabia produces less oil than it did in the 80s.
$5.9 trillion is what the 59 billion barrels fetches at $100/barrel whether we use it to offset imports or sell it. Only an anarchist would want the US economy to collapse from lack of funding. We certainly could use some of those savings now. Opening up ANWR would create 12,000 jobs in Washington State and nearly the same in Alaska so as to build the equipment and create the infrastructure. Treehugger either is a recent product of todays educational system or is still under the influence.
@ Ugly
If you are going to throw out EIA numbers, get them right. In 2007, the U.S. consumed 20.7 millions barrels per day of petroleum products. This equates to about 15 million barrels per day of crude oil.
I too have read the .2 million barrels per day by 2030 figure in various places. I am not quite sure what it refers to but it is completely misleading. One rig can produce more than 200,000 barrels per day. To claim that new offshore drilling could only produce one decent well's worth of oil in 20+ years is a joke. We would not be having a debate if there was only this much oil available. As far as being energy independent, realistically the U.S. need not produce 100% of the oil it consumes to be independent. We simply need to produce enough so that countries that are not our closest friends can't significantly affect supply.
Nobody is claiming that the U.S. can produce enough crude oil for 19-20 million barrels per day (2008 numbers) of petroleum products, or that the U.S. will consume 5 million barrels of oil per day anytime soon. Why not meet somewhere in the middle?
The reality is that oil is a finite resource that is largely imported and supplies are reaching their inevitable conclusion. Even if we were to drill in the Artic and all of the other areas that the US claims belongs to them, we are beyond the point in time where we need to begin switching, or even supplementing our energy consumption with multiple strategies. We need to implement ways to consume less, supplement our current energy consumption through increased use of wind, solar, nuclear, thermal, etc. and spend some of the massive military budget on R&D in the energy industry. Any additional drilling will not solve the problem, only delay the inevitable for a very SHORT period of time. Remember, China, Russia, and India are increasing their demands for oil as well. Like it or not, we do need to convert and the sooner the better.