Wouldn't the answer to bringing gas prices down is drill in the U.S?

Question

There is a ton of oil in the U.S , most the reason why it isnt drilled is these hippie enviromentalist, I know it would take 5 years to see a change in gas prices but I know that would have to drop back to around 3$ a gallon hopefully less and also tax gasoline and that tax money goes into research for a cleaner alternative fuel

Answer 1

Drill right in the middle of the Great Meadow on the UC Santa Cruz campus.  Then put a football stadium there afterwards.

Answer 2

Gas prices will do down with either a cut in demand or an increase in supply. Right now, we're using about 89.6 million barrels of oil per day worldwide and the output is around 86 million barrels - so more oil produced would help.

Answer 3

Speaking as someone who works for a major oil company, no, there isn't "a ton" of oil in the US, at least not that's easy to get at.  That's why we are already drilling offshore in the Gulf of Mexico and in the permafrost of Alaska.  Drilling in both of these places is very expensive, and we wouldn't be doing it if there were easier and cheaper alternatives.

And contrary to your misunderstanding of the rhetoric that has been bandied about concerning drilling, it wouldn't be five years "to see a change in gas prices," it would be five years, at least, before we could even BEGIN drilling in some of the areas in question.  Then it would be several more years to really begin to see any significant oil flow, and even then it wouldn't make more than a few cents difference in the price of gas.

As for who is opposed to drilling in the water off of California and Florida, it isn't just "hippie environmentalists," but the Republican governors of those states as well (yes, even "the Governator").

Further, gasoline is already taxed.  There has, however, been some effort directed toward enacting some sort of windfall profits tax on the oil companies, many of which, the one I work for in particular, have made record profits over the last several years.

Also, there is a fact which I have seldom seen mentioned in all this debate about drilling, and that is that no matter how much oil you can get your hands on, it doesn't really do you any good unless you can refine it into various products, like gasoline.  There is not enough refinery capacity in this country to handle much more oil then we are receiving now, so even if we started drilling tomorrow it wouldn't make any difference.  No new refineries have been built in some time, and several have been shut down.

Finally, we certainly need to keep looking for new sources of oil, but ultimately we need to find alternative sources of energy.  All the major oil companies are looking into alternative energies, believe it or not, if for no other reason than that they want to be able to make money off of selling it.  Economic incentive is always one of the biggest drivers of technological innovation.  After all, the current oil business only began about 160 years ago when the cost of whale oil, the petroleum of its day, began to get too high because it was getting harder and harder to find the whales.

Edit:  Wreckless Love, you think that speculation will LOWER prices?  It is speculation that is partly responsible for the current sudden rise in the price of oil.  That, and the declining value of the dollar, which is partly the result of the Bush administration's borrowing money like there was no tomorrow, from countries like China, to pay for the War on Terror and the decline in revenues caused by the tax cuts.  Since oil is valued on the world market in dollars, any decline in the value of the dollar causes prices to rise even if supply and demand remain the same.

Answer 4

It's part of the answer, but not all of it.

And yes, it will take 5 years to see the production start to have an actual effect, but the real effect would happen sooner, since speculation is based upon the assumption that supply will not increase, a known coming increase in supply will help to draw down prices somewhat even before any new oil hits the market.

(And you know, if the people trying to use that 5-year excuse to block drilling today had LISTENED when the call to start drilling domestic oil first went out SEVEN years ago, that problem would be 2 years past.)

We also need to keep raising automotive fuel efficiency standards, encourage more conservation, and invest heavily in alternative power sources.

In the US, we burn about 40% of our oil in electricity generation.  If we used different means to generate electricity (nuclear, or solar) then that oil could go into the gasoline refineries and the market.  That would kick down prices a lot.  (Assuming we could build refineries to pick up the slack.)

Answer 5

I totally agree with you on that, and yea the downside is we won't see any oil being produced until a few years...Those d**n hippies protest about the US drilling in Alaska..I think we are at that point where our technology will limit the amount of destruction of Alaska's Wild Life Preserve to a VERY small amount.  I say s***w the environmentalist and drill!!!..China is the reason why the gas prices are so high... :) The world has never seen a demand so great.....Supply and Demand..

Answer 6

It isn't just the hippie environmentalists....its us frugal characters now....I don't want to wait five to ten years to see cheaper gas.  I want it now.  I'm spending $300  to $350 a month on gas and its going to get worse.

In addition, in 5-10 years, China and India will be that much larger and using that much more gas.  We are going around in circles.  Better to take action now while we have multiple

options

EDIT:  Jeffery S....how long before we would have access to the oil?

Answer 7

I'm sick of the hippies relishing in the fact that so many people are hurting very badly right now. I understand we need to do something about the environment, but I'm working so much to make more money to keep up with the raising gas prices that I have no time to worry about it, sorry. Riding a bike is not an option in the city I live in. It's very frustrating, and whats worse is that because the democrats are so desperate not to look bad they are not going to approve this. They know the drilling will cause market speculation, which will cause lower prices which might make people hate Bush and the republicans less, which could have an effect on the election. I'll put money on the Democratic run congress approving drilling after Obama is elected in November. Right now it's all about appearance with congress, but either way they will look bad.

Answer 8

Yes, more oil supplies in the world market means lower prices at the pump.  Not only that, but we are importing over 70% or our oil.  This is not only a major security problem for out country but an economic knife at our throat constantly.  And, we all know how fond those that hold this knife are of beheading people.  Wait until those peaceful middle-easterners decide oil should be $1000 per barrel.  That translates into about $25 per gallon.  We haven't even begun to see economic hardship yet.  We're just waiting and dithereing.  Congress is playing politics and stalling.  All this is telling those with the oil to stick it to the infidels because Allah has willed it.  Just wait.  It's coming.