Digganalysis on Oil Exploration and Energy Dependence
Firstly, let’s look at some oil production numbers going
back to 2001. The table below shows
total domestic U.S oil production, per the Department of Interior, broken down
by Bush and Obama administrations using annual average of thousands of barrels
produced.
What’s worth noting is the year on year decline in the
average annual production over the course of the Bush years. Yes the big oil man’s administration was
importing more oil while we drilled less domestically. Do you remember the outrage from
conservatives about the tree hugging Bush and the rising gas prices? Of course, just like President Obama has been
saying, domestic oil production is up and continues to increase even after the
Deepwater Horizon disaster. Below you
can see that under President Obama we are importing less than during the Bush
years. In fact, 2011’s numbers compared
to the peak in 2005 is off by 16%. Use
less means import less and that’s the road to energy independence.
But that doesn’t tell the whole story. President Obama has also accelerated the use
of renewables as seen in the table below, including a remarkable 13% increase
from 2010 to 2011. So while the
conservatives love to mock the president about his clean energy plans, war on
coal, and Solyndra failure the fact is he is developing a balanced approach to energy; a balanced
approach that leads to reduced foreign dependence, protects the climate,
enables a resurging manufacturing sector, and insulates us from supply side
shocks.
Next came the charge that the Obama administration has
reduced the number of leases granted to gas and oil companies to explore and
drill on federal public lands. Well that
is a true statement; the department of the interior has cutback the number of
leases granted. There are several
reasons for the cutback, and the number one reason is the lack of activity on
leases already sold. According to the
May, 2012 report by the DOI: “There are
approximately 26 million leased acres offshore and over 20 million leased acres
onshore that are currently idle – that is, not undergoing exploration,
development, or production.” The report
goes onto say: “Offshore: As of May 2012, nearly 72 percent of the
area on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) that companies have leased for oil
and gas development – totaling 26 million acres – are not producing or not
subject to pending or approved exploration or development plans.” And Onshore: As of December
31, 2011, approximately 56 percent of total acres of public land under lease in
the Lower 48 States – totaling approximately 20.7 million acres - are not
undergoing either production nor exploration activities. As of September 30, 2011, there are over
7,000 approved permits to drill on public and Indian lands that have not yet
been acted on by companies.” Simply,
the oil companies are not exercising their existing leases because an increase in
supply will lower prices and they prefer to drill on state and private land due
to lower environmental regulations with respect to environmental protection. Oh,
and there was this thing called the Deepwater Horizon explosion that led to the
necessary moratorium on offshore drilling until root cause and preventative
actions were respectively understood and implemented.
So where does that leave us? Domestic oil production is up, energy from
renewable sources is increasing, and the gas and oil companies are manipulating
the supply. Ooh that seems like a bold
charge, how do you back that up Digg? As
reported by ThinkProgress, according to U.S. Congressman Edward Markey’s report titled “Use It or Lose It” 131 oil
and gas companies have 3,684 idle leases in the Gulf of Mexico alone. The Big
Five oil companies — BP, Chevron, Shell, ExxonMobil, ConocoPhillips — are
responsible for 40 percent of the 20.7 million acres “not undergoing
exploration, development, or production” in the region.
Half-truths,
flat out lies, ignoring data, and making it up as you go: The GOP.
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