How much oil could they find in alaska and the coasts?

Question

Bush is proposing lifting the ban for digging in alaska and the coasts.How efficient would that be.How much oil is there?

Answer 1

As long as the Commodities Futures Modernization Act goes unchanged nothing anyone does will matter. You can drill your little hearts out and completely destroy the environment, but nothing will change as long as speculators are allowed to run amok.

Simply adding the words "and energy" to the Commodities Futures Modernization Act would bring gas prices down overnight.

80% of all known oil off the continental shelf of the United States have already been granted permits to drill, but those that would do the drilling are sitting on those permits. Ask yourself why.

Answer 2

The Alaskan oil reserve is large but not as large as the one just found in Wyoming I believe, but even if they started to drill today you would not see any effect in the lowering of price per barrel for at least ten years due to all that is needed to get the oil out of the ground and to a refinery. What we need is refineries to be built in most every state in the nation as well as drilling on the Artic shelf and the other American hot spots. In the 70's the major gas/oil companies had many of these refineries closed down and mothballed. Then congress put a hold on exploratory drill for oil. Still, you would not find any relief from the exagerated cost of oil. What needs to be done is find the people responsible for the spike in oil per barrell. Most likely those who are trading the oild stocks on the global market. The cost of oil per barrell should be closer to about $35 - $40 not $140. Sad thing is, until the shieks in the oild rich middle east increase production oil will just keep going up.

Answer 3

enough to run my SUV for at least six months

Answer 4

I live in Alaska - and represent the citizens of Alaska on a comettie that interfaces the oil industry with the community.

In a nut shell:

The Alaskan pipeline used to push 2.8 million barrels a day 30 years ago.  With the Democratic party nixing any future drilling and exploration since then - the pipeline now has about 340,000 barrels a day going through.

The Alyeska Pipeline Company is now finishing an upgrade to the pipeline that would allow them to either batch ship oil down the line, or, increase shipping to 4.9 million barrels.

Had the Dems not stopped future drilling and exploration - the pipeline would be sending 4.9 million barrels to the USA today, and, no doubt a second pipeline would have been built in the 1990's like Alaska wanted to do.  Alaska would be providing 40% of America's needs, if not more.

Right now the state of Alaska is negotiating for a natural gas pipeline.  

Alaska has enough oil and natural gas to provide the needs of the US for about 300 years.  There is more oil and gas here than the whole middle east combined.

If ANWR were a regulation foot ball field, the area of Alaska that would be used for oil production would be less than the size of a postage stamp.

Before the pipeline there were 600,000 caribou in the area - now they number 2,000,000.  Before the pipeline there were 5,000 polar bears.  Now we have 25,000.    

I have been to ANWR.  The place is a mosquito factory.  Not some place you, your kids, grandkids, or their grandkids for generations is ever going to want to visit.  Not unless you like brown water and muck up to your kneecaps, clouds of mosquitos that make it impossible to identify if it is an animal or person they are circling.

This is the short version.  If Alaska was given the 'green light' we could ramp up from 300,000 barrels a day to nearly 5 million a day in about 2-3 years.   New pipelines, production, and infrastructer take about 8-10 years from concept to the first drop of oil coming out.    

The Alaskan Republican congressional deligation has been trying to do this for 30 years.  As a long time Alaskan, all I can say is,"We told you so".

Answer 5

We have been drilling and pumping oil up here in Alaska since 1977. The wildlife are just fine with the pipeline. We simply do not have enough oil to satisfy the needs and wants of the USA. Gas today was $4.36 and diesel was $5.10.