Ramblings' Journal

Current USGS research indicates that there is at least ten billion barrels sitting untapped in Alaska, which would replace Saudi imports for at least 30 years

Dude.
Think about this for a bit.

Global companies will extract the oil. The oil will be refined at locations any place in the world.

The global companies will then send the refined products to where ever the market dictates that it go.

There is no guarentee that the refined product will go to the U.S. for further refining (turning into plastic products) or consumption (fuel).

Thus the opening of ANWR and U.S. dependency on foreign oil can't be determined.

Sorry.
You've been flim-flamed.

The vast majority of North Slope oil is refined in the United States. There is no reason to believe that anything different would happen with oil from ANWR.

And if even the chance exists that we can reduce foreign dependancy, then I'd say it was worth the effort. If nothing else, it would generate US-based dollars (whether from domestic sales or global sales) that do not presently exist, which would help the economy.

I heard that there are only 6 mos. of oil reserve. It that is the case, this drilling is absolutely shameful. We all know that the U.S. is dependent on foreign oil, but if you look at all the U.S. military bases in the middle east, they are all in strategic locations, therefore, it appears the U.S. although is dependent on foreign oil - is still in control of those reserves. Why don't the rich oil tycoons, the government come up with other alternatives to fossil fuel?

The vast majority of North Slope oil is refined in the United States. There is no reason to believe that anything different would happen with oil from ANWR.

Even if it is refined in the U.S., that doesn't mean the refined product will stay in the U.S.

One of the strangest things about the refining process is, the oil can be pulled from the U.S., go to another country to be refined, and then go to a 3rd country, or back to the U.S., or to many countries.

It's more oil on the market, but ANWR doesn't appear to be a big enough reserve to make a difference on the global market.

It doesn't mean that it shouldn't be tapped, but people are being snowed if they believe ANWR will make a difference.

We need to worry about more important things than where we think the oil will be refined. At the moment we get more oil from Venezuela than SA. Iran has just signed a treaty on oil with Chavez(who hates our guts BTW). ANWAR needs to be done, and done fast, when we have breathing room we can have the luxury of being ecologically aware.

Michael,
The technology has improved were drill bits are guided by computers. With powerful computers and satellite images, location of oil found with drilling. My wallet hurts (which paid $20.00) for half full tank.

The point of my response was the oil taken won't neccessarily cause U.S. oil prices to go down because it's not about the U.S., it's about world oil prices.

Ah, but should other OPEC nations all of a sudden get 'snippy' about U.S. foreign policy and decided to *cough* adjust their production levels, the United States has an alternate supplier of crude to fall back on.

Actually, we should be using ANWR as a primary source of crude.

The thing is that the oil will not be extracted at one time. The actual rate of production will be around 1% of our current demand. So assuming that every drop of oil goes to the US, it still will not make a difference. There is no such thing as foreign oil. Oil is completely fungible. There is one world market. The specific origin of a barrel of oil does not matter to the market. If we do not buy middle east oil, someone else will. The only group that stands to benefit from ANWR is the oil industry. Incedently, it is important that we protect the middle east oil fields. Even if the US did not need any of it, the loss of these fields would be a global financial catastrophe making the great depression look like a day at the beach.

What needs to be done is a tightening of effieciency standards and a small invesment in alternatives for such materials as plastic. A 5% improvement in efficiency saves more oil than we'll ever get out of ANWR and saves money - tons of it - for you and me. Drilling in ANWR is a corporate welfare payment to a handful of oil companies who hardly need the money. Unless we promote innovation, this country is going to continue to fall behind. But like a heroin addict, we are grovelling in the dumpster for one last fix instead of really attacking the problem. Have a look at www.treasureamerica.org for a project tha hopes to change things around.

Still don't want to increase the supply of oil and the refined product. Who is really getting hurt here the poor. They'll pay at the pump and when the economy slows down will be the first to get laid off. Yes we need balance so we don't harm the enviroment, but the liberals want it all their own way. But check out the Sands Oil project in Canada. Those enviromental Canadians will be laughing all the way to bank as they plan on increasing the production of that field from 1 to 4 million barrels a day. And also becasue of this they will be building new refineries, something you on the left have fought for decades here in the US. I've given you some specfices, something you lefties never do. We have more oil here in oil shale rich areas of Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming just begging to be produced than Saudi Arabia, Iran, and Iraq have.

What is your definition of a treehugger? someone who cares about the earth God gave us to take care of? someone who fights for the rights of American Indians, animals, plants, ASmerican's, and our children?
Drilling will only save us .01 gal in the year 2026? what's wrong with clean technolgy? do u work for exxon??