We currently get 70% of our oil from foreign producers. No amount of offshore drilling can totally replace that. So, after all that, we will still be beholden to foreign oil.

Further, those foreign producers will still control the price of oil. We may increase production by a million barrels per day, but they could still remove two million barrels and up the price.

This commentary is a perfect example of why your sub-head "Liberal Intelligence" is often an oxymoron. Producing more domestic oil (and other forms of energy) isn't about driving down prices as much as it is about incrementally reducing our dependence on foreign oil for both strategic and economic reasons. Just 1 million bpd of domestic production at $200/bbl (a likely price when this future production comes on stream) helps our balance of payments by $73 billion per year and also provides many high-paying jobs for Americans.
Anybody that thinks there is just one solution to our excessive use of imported oil isn't thinking the situation through. We have to conserve, develop new sources of energy and produce more domestic petroleum during a decades-long transition. Even Paris Hilton can figure this out.

Ndallasj,

your "just 1 million bpd" figure is five times what the EIA estimates will be the yield from the protected offshore area. While you might be impressed by the potential impact on the balance of trade in 20 years, polls show that most voters think this drilling will lower the price of gas next year. That was the point of my post.

The drilling absolutely will not lower gas prices at all at any point in the next decade and even 15 or 20 years out the impact will only be 3-4 cents a gallon. If you want to tell people that they should support drilling because it might lower the trade deficit in 15 years, that's fine, but this is not why the public supports drilling.

Wondering what your thoughts are on the fact that the US exports 1/3 of its domestic oil for sale abroad?

Would oil companies who acquire oil in new offshore drilling projects be required to keep it for domestic sale ?

Why isn't this fact brought to light by anyone?

Is there some reason this is a non-issue, or are we being duped into doing the oil companies bidding - as it seems?

Dean, the headline is confusing, even after reading the article.

"Areas with little area". You mean, "areas with little oil"? [thanks, headline fixed --DB]

David Gill wrote:

Wondering what your thoughts are on the fact that the US exports 1/3 of its domestic oil for sale abroad?

Any chance we might see documentation of that? Possibly numbers from the DOE showing the amount of crude oil the US exports from all offshore federal lands?

I typed in a long comment (11 items, several including several sentences) and the captcha seemed clear and was typed in. I got a message that there was a text problem and my long comment was completely erased -- meaning I would have to start over again. Not worth the time, given the level of uncertainty over what the problem was that caused the failure and the chance of a repeat. Any suggestions?

Tom wrote:

"Any chance we might see documentation of that [oil export figures]? Possibly numbers from the DOE showing the amount of crude oil the US exports from all offshore federal lands?"

Here's the Reuters article where I read about this:

http://tinyurl.com/6nd8dn

Would love to be able to confirm this....

Here are some relevant numbers I am unable to interpret:

http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/dnav/pet/pet_move_exp_dc_NUS-Z00_mbblpd_a.htm

First, a 1/3 increase exports of refined products is not the same as "the fact that the US exports 1/3 of its domestic oil for sale abroad".

Virtually all of the exports are of refined products. If you drill down through the EIA data, you will find that exports of crude oil from federal offshore areas (Gulf coast, West coast, Alaska) total one thousand barrels so far this year.

So we export a small volume of unuseable diesel fuel, and that gets conflated with oil and used as a talking point in opposition to offshore drilling. Suuuure.

Tom, Thanks for responding and helping me understand this (though I think you may have typed a few too many u's in the word 'sure'). I am trying understand the situation. Notice I was asking question (which, admittedly, had some incorrect analysis on my part).

Why are you only talking about offshore oil? It shouldn't matter where it comes from.

I do understand that there's a difference between refined petroleum products and crude oil.

But why are these exports increasing over time?

What, other than profit, is motivating this exportation? - this is a honest question and not a rhetorical one.

Are you in favor of increased offshore drilling?

Can you help me understand how offshore drilling will bring down gas prices in the short term?