The US Oil Drilling Divide
June 28, 2008 Consumer, General Interest No Comments
Predicting future oil and gas prices is highly uncertain with the volatile global markets. The puzzling question today on everyone’s mind is if the time has come to lift the ban on US oil and gas drilling and if the risk is worth the potential reward.
With gas prices currently sitting at $4 a gallon, Congress is again wrestling with proposals to allow drilling in now-restricted portions of the eastern Gulf of Mexico, Atlantic and Pacific. President Bush estimates that an extra 18 billion barrels of oil – equivalent to the nation’s current oil production for the next 10 years would be available from drilling in areas currently banned. Although there’s uncertainty as to how long it would take to begin production, this would allow us to reduce our growing dependence on oil imports.