First, the article points out that the oil industry has 90 million acres of leases in the gulf of Mexico.  Of that some 70 million acres are not producing oil.  The article also points out that the US produces about 8 million barrels of oil per day, and then consumes 21 million.  Now, I was never real good at math in school, but doing some quick calculations, I find that they have some 20 million acres of leases producing something less than 8 million barrels of oil per day.  I am also not in the oil industry, but I’m thinking that isn’t a real good production record.  So, the democrats want the oil companies to be forced to drill the remaining 90 million acres of leases at the same pitiful rate before letting them explore the possibilities more productive sites like ANWAR and the Atlantic coast.  Just to illustrate the socialistic viewpoint of the article, rather than the proper free market attitude, consider this quote:

Oil companies “should finish what’s on their plate before they go back in line,” said Oppenheimer analyst Fadel Gheit.

The same man, later in the article, agreed that oil companies were not just sitting on leases.  So, if they are not just “sitting on leases” and they are wanting more land, there must be a good reason.  The reason is that what they have under lease is not productive enough to drill at the current cost of equipment and laying pipelines.  The equipment itself is in high demand right now because of the high cost of oil–oil is being taken from everywhere it can be found and harvested.  That makes it economically infeasible to try to harvest from the deep water areas of the Gulf, where production has been average at best.  However, if the companies could drill closer to shore, along the Atlantic coast (you know, the same oil that the Chinese are going after!) then they would be able to produce more oil at more reasonable cost.

The same principle holds true in ANWAR.  They can get in and get the oil from a relatively small parcel of land, and produce up to 2 million barrels per day.  So, 8 million (or less) barrels per day from 20 million acres, or 2 million barrels per day from a couple of thousand acres.  Which sounds like the better plan to you?

This article also quotes “one democrat staffer” as a source.  I don’t know about you, but that is who I want to take my information from.  This “staffer” claimed that if the oil companies would drill the remaining 70 million acres that they have in lease, they would produce an additional 5 million barrels per day.  70 million acres, 5 million barrels.  That is even more pitiful production than what they already have.  So, they should spend all the money necessary to drill, and pipe that oil from the gulf of Mexico, and end up with a lower production rate than when they started.  Sounds like a brilliant strategy to me.  Sounds like a democrat strategy to me!  By the way, the oil companies have said that the estimates of this “staffer” are way too high.  So, it would be even worse than the projections above.

I am glad to hear that John McCain has come out in favor of lifting the bans on offshore drilling.  That will help to alleviate some of the problem if companies are actually allowed to go in there and get the oil.  That remains to be seen.  It is time for McCain to wise up and change his stance on ANWAR too.  He keeps claiming he is a rebel…now he has a chance to prove it.  After all, every other candidate continues to cower before the environmental lobbies.  He could buck the system and do the right thing for a change!

What is the problem with the Gas Holiday proposal? There are several that come to mind:

It is merely a temporary fix. This is like putting a band-aid on a severed limb. It isn’t going to do anything really to help in the short term, and will kill us in the long term. The Federal Government collects 18.4 cents per gallon. That saves me approximately $3.68 on a fill up, of which I get about 6-8 per month. That saves me about $30 per month. Now, don’t get me wrong, I am for getting anything I can back from the government. I am for cutting taxes anytime I can get it. But, this isn’t going to stimulate the economy in any way. It isn’t going to help get things moving in the right direction. I drive quite a bit, and I would only benefit, at most, $30 for the month. That is a whole $120 for the summer. McCain did say he thought this could make it so folks could buy more school supplies for their kids. I guess that is about all it would do.

We won’t get ALL of the benefits. Face it, all of that 18.4 cents will never find its way into our pockets. You know that if the tax was taken away today, the oil companies would find a way to raise prices tomorrow. They have already predicted that prices will shoot up over $4 per gallon. That is just the way to soften us up, and get us to pay it. This move by the government would just give them a reason to do it sooner than later. Lest you misunderstand me here, I am not against big corporations, or even big oil. However, I don’t think that the oil market (at least in this country) is being controlled by the free market. Because we cannot really function without gasoline, we are forced to pay whatever is being charged. Any other element of society would have been restricted by the markets long ago. Anyway, back to the point: if the government reduces taxes, we still will not really save any money because the oil companies will raise the price to the same levels, or higher.

This does nothing to develop something for the future. How does this help us when the 3 month holiday is over? There still is no plan in place to cause the price of oil to come down, or to provide some alternative for the oil. None of the current candidates have a plan for this! All 3 refuse to do anything to allow domestic oil production to increase. Unless we get someone in the presidency who is willing to do something different than what we have always done, we will continue down the same path, and dig ourselves into deeper holes. I guess we will have to wait till at least 2012…

One thing that John McCain said on Glen Beck’s show that really aggravated me was that he would never drill in ANWAR. In fact, he said something to the effect, “I would no sooner drill in ANWAR than I would the Grand Canyon.” To this, Beck responded, “Is there oil in the Grand Canyon?” This exchange showed that McCain, while claiming to be “his own man” and “not beholding to anyone”, “a maverick”, is really just like most of the democrats. He is in the pocket of the environmental lobbyists. If he would look at the science, and the reports on drilling in ANWAR, he would see that this is the thing to do! Think about it:

• ANWAR has at least the 2nd largest oil pocket in the US
• The drilling site will be quite small compared to the whole Reserve area
• There is no hard evidence that shows that the environment would be hurt by drilling
• There is no hard evidence that shows that the wildlife of the region would be hurt by drilling

Now, I have heard the plethora of nonsensical arguments made by those on the left concerning drilling in ANWAR. They claim there isn’t much oil there. They claim that drilling there will destroy the whole Wildlife Reserve. They claim that the caribou are going to go extinct. The list goes on and on. But, these are nothing but liberal talking points. They are unprovable, but play on the fears of the people who “really care”. I care about our environment, and I care about our wildlife. But, the environment has withstood far more than this, and the wildlife have adapted to far greater challenges. It is time to make a move to do something that will truly impact the supply of oil in this country: drill for more domestic oil!

There has been a lot of talk over the last few weeks trying to depicts McCain as a conservative. There has to be a lot of talk, because it just is not true! He is no more conservative than Barak Obama. After this election, we can all give up on the hope that we will have reasonable energy costs any time soon. We are destined to have $4+ gas forever. That is not pessimism, it is realism.

Here is a cartoon I got from over at Vulcan’s Hammer, which really sums up where we are with energy in this country:

It will continue to be more of the same if McCain, Clinton or Obama are elected. They will pander to the environmentalists who will keep any kind of progress from being accomplished toward energy independence. Just consider the “Kennedy Clan”, who claim they are all for alternative energy sources, as long as it isn’t in their backyard. We want cheaper domestic energy, without having the energy produced here…hmmm…how’s that working out?