Some polls indicate more americans favor lifting Federal restrictions on offshore oil drilling.* A site I visit frequently explains why you shouldn’t drink the Kool-aid: you’re being fed a load of crap.
The oil companies already have access to some 34 billion barrels of offshore oil they haven’t even developed yet, but ending the federal moratorium on offshore drilling would probably add only another 8 billion barrels (assuming California still blocks drilling off its coast). Who thinks adding under 100,000 barrels a day in supply sometime after 2020 — some one-thousandth of total supply — would be more than the proverbial drop in the ocean? Remember the Saudis couldn’t stop prices from rising now by announcing that they will add 500,000 barrels of oil a day by the end of this year!
Note: this comes from an analysis of a government report on available, and anticipated domestic reserves of offshore oil. By government, I mean the current government… the one that muzzles the EPA, and runs Federal government agencies as if they’re a branch of the RNC.
If a candidate tells you the answer to high gas prices is more offshore oil drilling, he’s talking out of his ass.
*There are some folks who question the validity of their results, due to the way questions were asked.
—
I had this post written a week ago, but never got around to posting it. To be fair, I should note that oil prices have come down some in the last week or so. Some folks believe the prices have come down due to lower demand, primarily in the US, due to the slumping economy.