If people want to lessen foreign dependence on oil, why not drill more domestically?

Question

If people want to lessen foreign dependence on oil, why not drill more domestically?

Answer 1

Liberal tree huggers throw hissy fits when it's brought up...

Answer 2

well it tends to disturb the enviroment and such. but trust me its better to use others oil now, so that if it runs out, then we still have ours lol

Answer 3

It has already been done. My family worked for an oil exploration company. We drilled holes just in OK for 5 years. over 90% were production class wells.

Ask you politicians why we aren't using it.

When alternatives become economically feasible, they will be viewed in a better light. Oil is still the most profitable. It is all about profit, not environment.

Answer 4

all the fools who keep demanding INSTANT  change to other forms of engery. it takes years just to build enough cars an system

we should drill,nuke& wind  power and continuing to move

toward new technogy it may take 20 years . but in the mean time lets get started.

Answer 5

Because that is only postponing the inevitable - the depletion of oil reserves, which are a finite resource.

Instead of investing (wasting?) all of that money in a fuel that will go the way of the dinosaurs, why not invest in new alternative fuels or energy sources, so we have a jump on the game, instead of running on this continuing toxic treadmill only to later pay OTHER countries for THEIR advanced alternative fuel technologies?

Answer 6

think how much you could save if you got off that fat **** and got your legs moving.

Answer 7

Why not stop using oil alltoghether and use the alternative sources that already exist?

Answer 8

liberals

Answer 9

its called "NIMBY"...not in my backyard...environmental wackos

Answer 10

Perhaps there is a secondary gain to the politicians.Perhaps OPEC is paying them, or trading political influence for favors.  There is certainly a secondary gain to no new refineries, and no nuclear power. Anyone with eyes can see that we in this country need the jobs that such instalations would generate.  These things might increase supply, and lower prices.  Tax revenue and profits might go down.

The green people believe that we shouldn't exist, and they usually have big money behind them, (who knows where it comes from).  If only the Greens existed, none of this would be a problem. So it's in their best interests to encourage zero population growth, (more people mean more needs) high oil prices, (they can afford to pay them, and only they should have the luxuries that oil brings)and discourage any real exploration of alternative energy sources, (we don't want to have to deal with oil derricks or solar panels, or windmills in our back yards, they might interfere with our view)

It's similar in philosophy to the attitude of some people that says, "now that I'm here, we should shut the door, because we want to keep our quality of life the way it is,"

Answer 11

did you know cuba is drilling 90 miles off the coast of fla. thanks libs.

Answer 12

I think you already know the answer to that.

If not, tree hugging liberals will not allow it.

Answer 13

Domestic production hasn't been a realistic answer since the '73 oil embargo, which showed that there isn't enough domestic reserves to meet national demand.

Aside from domestic oil production, there still isn't enough domestic refining capacity to meet national demand.

The only real options are energy production from non-petroleum sources (of which renewable energy is the most viable, long term), or conservation,neither of which ain't gonna happen until petro-energy is too expensive for most people to afford.

Doesn't really matter though, peak-oil is only a few years off, and by mid century, petroleum will be obsolete

Answer 14

It's not the oil we are need of its the refinaries. We have few operating refinaries right now. The government could build more and the demand of fuel would equal out but they are profiting too much right now.

Answer 15

Extreme liberals stand in the way

Answer 16

There are a number of reasons.  Here are some, but I'm sure that there are more:

1. Costs - Because of regulations caused by environmental concerns it has become extremely costly, or even illegal, to drill in certain areas

2. Location - Some of the biggest potential oil reserves are located in places difficult to get to (increased cost for extraction) or easy to get to but dangerous.  

3. Politics - As some already noted, NIMBY ('Not in my back yard'); politicians and special interest groups don't want drilling in their area (state, region, etc.) , or they don't want to allow tax breaks and incentives, or exemptions from regulations, to increase domestic exploration and production.  

4. Composition - some reserves are actually absorbed or mixed in with rock and sand, so extraction is difficult.  The rock and sand, or shale, has to be extracted and then the oil extracted from that material.  I don't know if there has been a method developed yet to accomplish this process in a manner that will really produce enough oil to justify the process.  I also don't know if this process can be accomplished without extracting the rock and shale from the ground first.  

5. Oil companies - Not willing to increase supply at a time when they are making record profits.  This is shown by oil companies giving big dividends to their shareholders instead of plowing the record profits into exploration and domestic drilling.  They are also not willing to increase refinery capacity, improve existing refineries, or build new refineries.  This is because they already expect a shift to alternative energy in the future and see no reason to invest in infrastructure that will not provide a big return on the investment.  

I'm sure there are other reasons as well, but these are some of the big reasons we are not doing more domestic drilling.

Answer 17

Domestic oil is our safety net for times when we can't get foreign oil (either because it is too expensive or politically unavailable).

Answer 18

Environmentalist won't let us because we might disturb a bug or some such c**p.

Underneath the National preserve in Alaska is enough oil to to make us completely independent on foreign oil, but they won't let us drill for it cause of the critters that live in the habitat.

Answer 19

Oil science is an abstract science. Even though there are proven reserves in our country, you have to invest a big money (biggggg).Rather it is a gambling. Proven reserves, again must be commercially viable to lift from ground. To be more precise, oil trade has got more say in world economy next to defence trade. One offshore well cost, nowadays, USD 30 Million.i e Rs 120 crores. An offshorewell will be completed in 65 to 90days to find that it is a dry well by spending the above money. The success ratio in the oil world is not even 25%. Hence drilling more well domestically will not solve the issue raised.

Answer 20

EPA, Sierra Club, etc.

Answer 21

Because the oil tends to be under some of the most gorgeous pristine land that god ever made &  it's probably better to let other countries trash their own place.

Answer 22

Good question.  We have a massive reserve in Alaska and it could be on line in less than five years.  Also there is allot of oil in the Gulf of Mexico that we could 'encourage' Mexico to allow us to pump.  There are also the tar sands in Canada, and the oil shales in Utah that are estimated to have more oil than the entire middle east.  But these will not last forever, so while we do those I think that we should invest in green fuels, mainly from non-THC containing hemp, and from algae.  While at the same time dusting off some of those old patents that claim massive miles per gallon results and putting some serious research into the veracity of the claims that they make

And reexamining some of the interesting advances that have been made in internal combustion engines but that where sidelined at the time because oil was cheap.  The technology is there, it is only the will to utilize it--for various political, economic, social reasons--that is lacking.

And given more investment, solar, wind, thermal, tidal, and nuclear--both fusion and fission--we could cut our dependency on oil and coal for electricity thus freeing up more for fuels and chemicals.  

I think that they above is doable but that entrenched interests are going to have to be thrown from the throne as it where for this to happen.

Answer 23

The exploration within the country is going on. But that is sufficient. Our demand is huge and the exploration and out put therefrom is not commensurate with the demand. The long term solution would be in concentrating on the alternate mode of fuel. What if one fine morning, all the fossil fuel on earth are eaten up? You should be prepared for that eventuality from now on.

Answer 24

Mild Irr....If you wanted to convince someone that you had a flicker of intelligence,I wouldn't pick the coyote as my symbol. (road runner cartoon).

You need to stop watching oil drilling movies like the one with John Wayne,"The h**l Fighters"The technology has advanced since those days. They don't drill straight down any more. They drill on an angle. They can use this technology at Anwar, and congress knows it. They can plow roads on  the frozen tundra,setup drilling riggs and begone before the thaw. It doesn't harm the wild life up there. In fact it is beneficial to them as proven at Prudhoe Bay. The congress knows this to be fact. and still they block the drilling. Let's hope that the voters of this country have had a belly full of these worthless hate america first jerks in the house and senate and through them out on their collective @rses. Maybe then we can get someone in there that will turn this nation around and headed in the right direction.