Wednesday, June 18, 2008

Another reminder

Less than 5% of the area of the United States and associated continental shelf remains to be explored and exploited for any underlying oil. At most only 5% of the oil that we extracted from the rest of the United States over the past 100 years can be pumped out from under there -- i.e., a 5 year supply of oil, at best. We cannot drill our way out of this oil crisis by drilling more oil wells in the United States, regardless of whether you open up ANWR and the Pacific and Florida coasts or not. Any significant finds remaining to be made are in foreign countries that haven't been explored and exploited to a fare-the-well the way that the United States has been. And most of those places either hate us or they're inaccessible (the Amazon basis) or they're a political nightmare (the Congo basin).

In short, we ain't drillin' our way out of this one, folks.

-- Badtux the Oil Penguin

5 comments:

  1. Oh come on - open ANWAR for drilling today and by COB next Friday gas will cost 30 cents a gallon.
    I know cause Jonah Goldberg says so.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Snarky,

    I found my way to your blog quite by accident - every morning before work I read Huff Post & crooks & liars - From one link to another (via Zaius Nation)I ended up here.

    I plan on using your oil stats -

    although the other 1/2 of the equation is that the oil speculators are driving up the price artificially.

    Love the reference to Linux

    Love your blog in general but I'm hiding the jeep blog from spouse (ha ha ha).

    Signed
    Good Dog Mac

    p.s. even dogs don't organize torture for other dogs.

    ReplyDelete
  3. But...but if we drill like hell off shore and in ANWR, that five years will be a window of opportunity for us to win the war on terra and then we'll have all the oil we need forever and can keep driving however much we want.

    You can only object to this if you HATE AMERICA.

    ReplyDelete
  4. And of course, now we don't have to...since Exxon, BP and Chevron just got no-bid contracts to re-develop Iraq's oil fields. Right? I mean, we are at last to the "plunder and spoils" part of the war, this must be victory, right?
    (Well, for the oil companies)
    Now, must go wash mouth and hands with soap, since I feel vomitous from that dose of sarcastic bitter bile-filled "Yes it was a war for oil" news.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Actually, if it was/had been a war for oil, I would feel a lot better about the Mess in Mesopotamia. I wouldn't agree with it, but it would be the sort of disagreement I might have had with Barry Goldwater -- i.e., both of us wanting what was best for the nation, but having different ideas of what that might be. But the stated reasons for the Mess in Mesopotamia either are nonsense or have nothing to do with what's best for America and Americans, and the actions we've taken in Iraq have not in any way shape or form helped America in any way. "But... but... we liberated Iraq!" has nothing to do with America and Americans even if that is what we had done. Oil, on the other hand... I guess this is the one issue on which I somewhat agree with the demented Ann Coulter. "What's wrong with a war for oil? We need oil, don't we?". Yes, morally reprehensible, but at least understandable. Unlike the current reasons for staying in Iraq, which seem to be more about who has the biggest swinging dick rather than anything sensible.

    - Badtux the Oily Penguin

    ReplyDelete

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