Quote:
Originally Posted by BDBohnzie
Here is what caught my eye in that article:
So drilling into these areas will provide oil for roughly 28 months, and natural gas for 44 months...5-10 years down the road. That's a small band-aid on a crater-sized hole.
Quite honestly, I'd rather Congress push Big Oil into further developing alternative sources than drill these areas.
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Iffy analysis.
As Steveo said, this will not be the sole source of US oil, far from it. If the US were to use oil from these areas exclusively, then it would last the amount of time you mentioned.
But we will not draw from this source at such a fast rate. We will still import oil from OPEC, from other nations, and continue to draw from current US sources. This offshore source will supplement the existing supply of oil in our country, thereby increasing supply, helping to push the price of gas down over the course of 20+ years.
The affect on our economy will not be a drop in the bucket, it will not be a short-lived (2-3 year) benefit, but it is also not a long term, permanent solution. We need to continue pushing for alternative energy sources while at the same time tapping into these reserves.