Is it true that oil companies won't drill on approved oil leases here in the U.S.?

Question

If it is true why won't the oil companies drill on these approved leases. I have heard that oil companies would rather drill in other countries because it is more profitable and they don't have to comply with so many enviromental and legal regulations. I wonder if there really is an oil reserve supply problem or control supply problem. If the supply can be controlled then so can the price.

Answer 1

Oil companies lease many patches of land in hopes that some of them will work out. The patches that are currently not being drilled are the ones that are not worth drilling. The ones that are worth drilling are referred to as "commercial" discoveries.

A June 16th Wall Street Journal Article quoted ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson as saying, "I guarantee you, anybody who's got a commercial discovery today in the United States has got it under development. They'd be silly not to at these prices."