In 1980, official estimates of proved oil reserves in the United States stood at roughly 30 billion barrels.Yet over the past 30 years, more than 77 billion barrels of oil have been produced here.
In other words, the green energy kooks underestimated supplies by about 150%... just the last time they tried to panic the public.
North Dakota, for example, was barely among the top ten oil producing states less than ten years ago. Today it is the fourth largest producer due to rapid growth in developing the massive oil resources in the Bakken formation in the western portion of the state. North Dakota’s unemployment rate is 3.5 percent, compared to a 9.1 percent unemployment rate for the United States.
But President Obama -- who is opposed to job creation -- continues to refuse to allow massive projects like Keystone XL to proceed.
...the Congressional Research Service... released a report showing that the United States’ combined recoverable oil, natural gas, and coal endowment is the largest on Earth. ...When combined with resources from Canada and Mexico, total recoverable oil in North America exceeds 1.7 trillion barrels... [which] is more than the world has used since the first oil well was drilled over 150 years ago in Titusville, Pennsylvania. To put this in context, Saudi Arabia has about 260 billion barrels of oil in proved reserves.
For comparative purposes, the technically recoverable oil in North America could fuel the present needs in the United States of seven billion barrels per year for around 250 years.
...Moreover, it is important to note that that “reserves” estimates are constantly in #ux. For example, in 1980, the U.S. had oil reserves of roughly 30 billion barrels. Yet from 1980 through 2010, we produced over 77 billion barrels of oil. In other words, over the last 30 years, we produced over 150 percent of our proved reserves....Restrictions in the form of federal bans and leasing combined with declining offerings of lease acreage mean only about 2.2 percent of America’s offshore acreage is currently leased for production...
...there is enough natural gas in North America to last the United States for over 175 years at current rates of consumption... [and its] coal supplies are even more staggering. The United States, Canada, and Mexico have over 497 billion short tons of recoverable coal, or nearly three times as much as Russia, which has the world’s second largest reserves... North American recoverable coal could provide enough electricity for the United States for about 500 years at current levels of consumption.
...While the United States and North America contain enormous energy wealth, U.S. policies have increasingly made exploration, development, production and consumption of that energy more difficult. Therefore, a scarcity of good policies, not a scarcity of energy, is responsible for U.S. energy insecurity.
Anyone who opposes the exploitation of America's massive energy treasures should be forced to live for a year without electricity and gasoline.
Of course, if they're like most limousine liberals (***cough*** Al Gore ***cough*** Barack Obama), it's only folks like us who are supposed to go without.
Hat tip: Say Anything Blog.
I think the progs know that if we unleashed our productive sectors (capitalists) on our energy fields, it would undermine the average prog's worldview irrevocably.
ReplyDelete1) It can and would be done in environmentally sound fashion. The prog standy that oil is the Satan of pollution would disappear.
2) Our sales would dwarf those in the 3rd world countries, putting them out of business and thus, cutting off their $ supply. Not necessarilly a bad thing in Muslim countries (less $ for funding Jihad).
3) Our profits would be astromonical, and we could fund a benevolent welfare state in an economy where it would be beneficial to work so people would not be dependent on government. (Very inexpensive energy) Oh, the horror.
Progs have been slow on oil and gas. But I'll bet you 5 bucks Cass Sunstein is working overtime trying to craft a maze of crippling regulations to foist on the oil and gas industry that will require the oil and gas industry pay homage to the democrat party if they want to make any money.