I love anything having to do with the petroleum industry, always catches my eye.

Our Own Oil Cartel
By Terence P. Jeffrey
CNSNews.com Editor in Chief
June 04, 2008

Contemplate this the next time you spend $60 or more filling up your tinny little car with gasoline made from imported oil: The U.S. government knows where it can get its hands on more untapped petroleum than exists in the proven reserves of Iran or Iraq, which have 136 billion barrels and 115 billion barrels, respectively.

This unexploited stock of crude is greater than what the U.S. Energy Information Administration reports is in the proven reserves of Russia (60 billion barrels), Libya (41.5 billion barrels) and Nigeria (36.2 billion barrels) combined.

It is more than Hugo Chavez's Venezuela has (80 billion barrels). It is more than is now known to sit beneath the waters and sands of Kuwait (101.5 billion barrels) or the United Arab Emirates (97.6 billion barrels).

So, where is all this oil? And why aren't they pumping it?

What cartel is holding it off the market, to drive up prices at American gas stations and American supermarkets? What insidious power is stifling the free market for this vital commodity and thus threatening the vitality of our economy?

It is us, of course. We are the culprits. We are responsible for artificially increasing oil prices. It is our oil that sits untapped beneath our deserts, our forests, our swamps and our oceans. It is our politicians -- the ones we freely elected, and re-elected, and re-elected -- who are not allowing our oil to be drilled by us and sold to us.

In 2005, Congress passed the Energy Policy Act, requiring the Department of Interior to inventory the oil resources that could be found both onshore and offshore in U.S. territory. In February 2006, Interior's Minerals Management Service (MMS) published the report on offshore oil resources on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS). It determined there were 85.9 billion barrels of "undiscovered technically recoverable" oil sitting off our beaches.

Just this offshore portion of our undiscovered oil is more than all the proven oil in Venezuela, and more than all the proven oil in Russia, Oman, Qatar and Bahrain combined.

What does the government mean when it says this oil is "undiscovered technically recoverable" oil? It means we can go get it with off-the-shelf technology, but the government makes no judgment about the profitability of doing so. This oil, the government says, is "in undiscovered accumulations analogous to those in existing fields producible with current recovery technology and efficiency, but without any consideration of economic viability."

Last month, with almost no attention from the liberal media, the Bureau of Land Management released the report estimating the other part of America's undiscovered oil riches, the onshore resources. This added another 53 billion barrels to the national petroleum pot.

"The nation's undiscovered oil resources total about 139 Bbbls (billion barrels)," says the report. "Of that total, the MMS estimates that 86 Bbbls are offshore under the OCS, comprising 62 percent of the nation's resources. State waters and nonfederal onshore resources are the second largest potential source of production (21 percent), followed by Federal onshore oil resources (17 percent)."

Yet, as long as Congress and the president retain the federal moratoria that forbid most offshore drilling, the 85.9 billion barrels of crude offshore won't be tapped.

The May BLM report explains why most onshore oil won't be tapped, either. Of the 279 million acres of federal land "with potential for oil or natural gas resources," 60 percent is off limits to leases as a matter of federal statute or administrative policy. Another 23 percent is open to leases with "restrictions." These include such things as "lands that can be leased but ground-disturbing oil and natural gas exploration and development activities are prohibited" and "lands that can be leased, but stipulations ... limit the time of the year when oil and gas exploration and drilling can take place to less than 3 months."

A final 17 percent of federal land is open to oil drilling on more or less the same environmental terms as private land.

"All oil and gas leases on Federal lands, including those issued with only the standard lease terms, are subject to full compliance with all environmental laws and regulations," says the report. "These laws include, but are not limited to, the National Environmental Policy Act, Clean Water Act, Clean Air Act, Endangered Species Act and National Historic Preservation Act. While compliance with these laws may delay, modify or prohibit oil and gas activities, these laws represent the values and bounds Congress believes appropriate to manage Federal lands."

You elected Congress. It paid you back with $4.00-per-gallon gas.

(Terry Jeffrey is the editor in chief of CNSNews.com.)

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Enough about me, how are you doing?

The part about "economic feasibility" cannot be understated.

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MB-less

What, no non-profits want to save the world with somebody else's money? Maybe we can do it with tax dollars.

It's Bush's fault. And probably Haliburton somehow.

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1980 300TD-China Blue/Blue MBTex-2nd Owner, 107K (Alt Blau) OBK #15
'06 Chevy Tahoe Z71 (for the wife & 4 kids, current mule) '03 Honda Odyssey (son #1's ride, reluctantly) '99 GMC Suburban (255K+ miles, semi-retired mule) 21' SeaRay Seville (summer escape pod)

Domestic oil will not sell for less than imported in a free market.
The global market sets the price, oil, gold, corn ...................

If we had enough domestic oil it would be possible to
lower the world price by increasing supply. The lower
price would be world wide not just in the USA.

Governmen policy can change the price. Taxes or the gov
running the oil feilds and selling below market value. Move
to Venezuela for cheap gas.

http://money.cnn.com/pf/features/lists/global_gasprices/

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cult plus time equals religion

Sorta. If the USD goes down, price of oil goes up. OTOH, if we had something to sell, we'd raise our items to sell and money coming in. After all, we are being run out of the manufacturing markets. This will be something we can sell. And of course, we'd need more refineries.

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01 Ford Excursion Powerstroke
99 E300 Turbodiesel
91 Vette with 383 motor
05 Polaris Sportsman 800 EFI
06 Polaris Sportsman 500 EFI
03 SeaDoo GTX SC Red
03 SeaDoo GTX SC Yellow
04 Tailgator 21 ft Toy Hauler
11 Harley Davidson 883 SuperLow

Frankly I don't get the point of this guy's article. Even assuming the numbers are correct and there really is that much oil up to the continental shelf, and that it could be recovered feasilbly. What the hell makes people think it's a governmnent conspiracy to stop recovery of it. He's right, we put congress there and congress reflects the will of the people. Just how much of a hullabaloo would the people put up if they actually decided to try and recover all that oil? Look at the trantrum the eco-freaks throw when they try to drill in Alaska. I'd bet it would be way worse if folks figured a couple of sardines might die from offshore drilling. The government has nothing to do with it. It's the stupidity of the people.

- Peter.

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2021 Chevrolet Spark
Formerly...
2000 GMC Sonoma
1981 240D 4spd stick. 347000 miles. Deceased Feb 14 2021
2002 Kia Rio. Worst crap on four wheels
1981 240D 4spd stick. 389000 miles.
1984 123 200
1979 116 280S
1972 Cadillac Sedan DeVille
1971 108 280S

Yes but it is easier to blame somebody than themselves for stupidity.

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01 Ford Excursion Powerstroke
99 E300 Turbodiesel
91 Vette with 383 motor
05 Polaris Sportsman 800 EFI
06 Polaris Sportsman 500 EFI
03 SeaDoo GTX SC Red
03 SeaDoo GTX SC Yellow
04 Tailgator 21 ft Toy Hauler
11 Harley Davidson 883 SuperLow

If the USD goes down everything goes up compared to the USD.

The lower USD should help USA exports and manufacturing.

The market changes. Blaming the left for gas prices or Bush for the
ecomomy makes little sense other than gaining political advantage.

Bush didn't make the banks give bad loans and help drive the
housing bubble. Not drilling in ANWAR is not why gas is $4.

I have a hard time believing that the USA could ever be a oil exporter
even with these reserves that are undiscovered, What ever that means
More refineries? Don't we import oil and refine it here now?

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cult plus time equals religion

Yes and no. You see, my export costs have gone way up because everybody is trying to get containers. IIRC, from about a year or so ago, my costs have doubled and it is way difficult to get a booking. A lot of containers are going out but few are coming in so we are having shipping problems. A year and a half ago, I could get a 40 foot container from the midwest for a little more than $1600. I can't even sniff at one today for $3500 if I want delivery anytime soon.

As RichC said on a previous post, fuel jumps up during a republican presidency therefore it must be the republicans screwing with the oil Probably saw that at the bottom of a bottle.

I agree but people haven't said it yet because they haven't found a way to pin it to him

Our refineries are running at OVER 110%. We haven't built a new one for over 20 years. What do you think will happen with one hiccup like Katrina?

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01 Ford Excursion Powerstroke
99 E300 Turbodiesel
91 Vette with 383 motor
05 Polaris Sportsman 800 EFI
06 Polaris Sportsman 500 EFI
03 SeaDoo GTX SC Red
03 SeaDoo GTX SC Yellow
04 Tailgator 21 ft Toy Hauler
11 Harley Davidson 883 SuperLow

X2. We are exporting 25% of our petroleum to Japan.

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"It's normal for these things to empty your wallet and break your heart in the process."
2012 SLK 350
1987 420 SEL

"our"?

Actually it was 1976. And I think it is S. Dakota where the voters are approving the building of a new refinery.

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MB-less

That always works.....

Actually it would be cheaper and less risky to just give people fuel stamps (like food stamps) for gasoline.

I hope nobody reads that and runs with it.....

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MB-less

It is 3.1% to japan. 35% to mexico and Canada.

We also get most of our imports from Mexico and Canada.

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MB-less