The oil companies already have 68 million acres under lease that they're not drilling on. It doesn't take an act of Congress for them to start drilling there today or yesterday if they'd wanted to. So why the mantra, "Drill here. Drill now."? It just shows what a pandering boob John McCain is. The oil companies already have 68 million acres under lease in the US. Why aren't they frantically drilling already to bring down the price of gas for the American consumer? Put simply, they could care less about bringing down the price of gas for the American consumer and concomitantly their own profits. They just want to use the high price of gas to further their own interests, that is, to get even more acreage under lease so that at some time in the future when the price of gas as set by the world market is even higher, they can make even greater profits.
First, the oil companies in this country now hold 7,000 leases to drill offshore, yet only 20 percent of those leases are producing oil. That is 68 million acres for which they already have the rights to drill. Nearly 80 percent of our offshore oil is already available for leasing -- approximately 54 billion barrels total. They could be drilling in these areas, but they are not.
Assuming oil companies drilled in new areas, it would take at least a decade for new production to begin. Just last week, the U.S. Energy Information Administration concluded new drilling would have no impact on oil prices before 2030.
Prices would still be determined by the world market, which will be adding billions of new consumers from growing economies in China, India and other countries.
OPEC countries control two- thirds of the world's oil reserves. If we add a bit more oil to the market, they can cut their own output to keep prices high.
Now here's what Congress should do. 1) Require the oil companies to start drilling on leases they now hold. If they fail to do so, the leases should be taken back. 2) Require the oil companies to sell directly to the American people oil taken from leases in the US at a price of, say, 60% of the world market price. As the leases they now hold come under full development with the oil not placed on the world market but sold directly to the American people, Congress should then consider adding additional leases but not until then. Is this sufficiently nuanced that the American people cannot understand it? Oh, I see, they can only understand simple slogans like "Drill here. Drill now." Is their attention diverted elsewhere like on football games and reality shows? Poor babies!
Even Paris Hilton has a better energy policy than John McCain.
Drill Here. Drill Now? Why didn't they start drilling yesterday?
