Oil Myths

Photo by: Dancing Deer Photography

Four dollar a gallon gas has pushed oil and energy independence to the forefront of the political debate.  Politicians and their surrogates can be confusing. We at Sustainable Home Styles thought we’d debunk a few myths about oil.

Myth 1:  A majority of the U.S oil imports come from the Middle East.

The United States uses 20.5 million barrels of oil a day. Half is imported from other countries.  Our main supplier of oil is Canada, our neighbor to the north.  Five countries supply 66% of our oil imports: Canada (1.840 million barrels per day), Saudi Arabia (1.579 million), Mexico (1.116 million), Venezuela (1.030 million) and Nigeria (0.851 million).

Source: Energy Information Administration

Myth 2:  Oil will eventually run out.

This might surprise some people, but oil will not run out.  Oil companies drill for the easiest (and cheapest) oil to bring to the surface.  Once that oil runs out they drill for oil that is harder (and more expensive) to harvest.  Eventually, oil will get so expensive to locate and harvest that it will not be affordable.  This will force us to develop other energy sources.

Myth 3:  Opening up more drilling off the U.S. coastline will cause the price of gas to drop.

This has already been done.  In 2006 Congress enacted “The Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act” which allowed expanded drilling in the Gulf.  This area of 8 million acres contains an estimated 40 billion barrels of oil.  In 2006 a barrel of oil cost $60.  Today, with world demand increasing and only 7 billion barrels of oil found in the Gulf, the price has doubled.  Expanding drilling rights to oil companies would not lower the price of oil. 

The debate today over the federal moratorium on offshore drilling would net an estimated 8 billion barrels (assuming the other 10 billion barrels located off the California coastline is blocked).  Even if this moratorium is lifted, Bush’s Energy Department states that we can’t expect any impact on oil prices until the year 2030.

Energy independence is an important issue we must solve.  The myths surrounding oil have clouded the fact that the United States needs a comprehensive energy plan that relies on renewable resources.