America has plenty of oil, but President Obama managed to turn an energy boom into an energy crisis

by Newt Gingrich

In the mountainous Green River Basin of the American West, running through Utah, Colorado, and Wyoming, the American people own lands containing an estimated one trillion barrels of oil, more than triple the amount of Saudi Arabia's proven oil reserves and far exceeding anything we could have dreamed a few decades ago.

This incredible supply—made up of most of the world's oil shale—should be a cause for national celebration, since it has the potential both to lower gasoline prices and to increase government revenues without raising taxes.

In 2008, this exciting energy story was just beginning to bear fruit, as the Bush administration issued 77 leases (after a seven-year environmental review process) for energy companies looking to develop the oil shale.

Then came President Barack Obama. Within weeks of his inauguration, the Obama Interior Department withdrew the leases. 

And although Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said the administration would "reconsider" the leases, his department ensured that any progress would be minimal. According to a statement from the House Committee on Natural Resources, "In October 2009, the Interior Department announced a new round of RD&D leases that included significant changes to the program. The new program decreased lease acreage by 87 percent, demanded unrealistic timelines for investment into cutting-edge research, included unattainable production requirements, and implanted variable royalty rates. As a result, only three companies applied for this latest round of RD&D leases."

Obama Caught Fibbing at Oil Field

Domestic oil production overall in the U.S. is at its highest level in the past eight years, according to the Energy Department.

But production on federal lands was down 14 percent year-over-year in 2011, and overall remains 13 percent lower than it was in 2003.

Still, Obama – who has made renewable energy a hallmark of his administration — insisted he’s not backing away from drilling or searching for more oil.

“You wouldn’t know it from listening to some of these folks running for office, but producing more oil here in our own country has been, and will continue to be, a key part of our energy strategy,” Obama said.

“We’re drilling all over the place,” he said.

One More .................

OIL IS SOLD ON THE “WORLD MARKET”…THEREFORE PRESIDENT OBAMA’S POLICIES CAN’T INFLUENCE THE PRICE OF OIL

FALSE:

“How much oil we produce here at home, because we only have 2 percent and we use 20, that’s not going to set the price of gas worldwide, or here in the United States.  Oil is bought and sold on the world market.” (March 7, 2012, North Carolina)
HE EMPHASIZES THIS AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN:
We can’t just allow ourselves to be held hostage to the ups and downs of the world oil market. (February 23, 2012, Miami, FL)
We’re not going to, overnight, solve the problem of world oil markets. (February 23, 2012, Miami, FL)
“Gas prices and the world oil markets right now are putting a lot of pressure on families right now.” (March 15, 2012, Prince George’s Community College.)
“When prices spike on the world market, it’s like a tax, it’s like somebody is going into your pocket.” (March 15, 2012, Prince George’s Community College.)

TRUE:

President Obama and his allies have repeatedly suggested his policies can’t be blamed for high gasoline prices because oil is “bought and sold on the world market” over which he has no control. But prices on the “world market” are determined primarily by supply and demand, and the President is blocking development of substantial oil supplies offshore and in the American West, which together are several times the known reserves of Saudi Arabia. No one has claimed the President can “set” the price of oil, but his choice to close these areas affect the price significantly.
He could reverse his policies on these federal lands with the stroke of a pen. There is nothing special about the “world market” that would prevent that large increase in supply from putting downward pressure on price.
The President’s own actions have betrayed the knowledge that even marginal production changes have a significant effect on oil prices. When his administration asked Saudi Arabia to increase its own oil production, its goal was to lower prices in the U.S., and when he tapped the Strategic Reserve during the Arab Spring in 2011, he did so for the same reason. His claims to be powerless in the “world market” are just a bad excuse for the results of his anti—American-energy policies.

Iran official says oil will reach $150 per barrel

Associated Press

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran's official news agency reports that the head of the state oil company is claiming that the price of crude will go up to $150 per barrel.

Head of the National Iranian Oil Company Ahmad Qalehban did not give a time frame for the prediction, nor any other details in the Sunday report by IRNA.

The price of benchmark U.S. crude on Friday was around $99.56 per barrel.

Qalehban's statement comes as Iranian officials prepare to debate a ban on crude sales to European Union countries, in response to a planned EU embargo on Iran's oil by summer because of that country's nuclear program.

The United States and its allies argue that Iran is trying to develop nuclear weapons technology, while Tehran says the program is for purely peaceful purposes.

Obama Losing Canada's Oil to China

By Jim Meyers

The Obama administration is foot-dragging on approving a pipeline to deliver abundant Canadian oil to the United States at the same time the Chinese are investing in a pipeline that could send that oil to China.

The House Energy and Commerce Committee last week passed a bill requiring President Barack Obama to speed up a decision on approving the pipeline. The bill was introduced by Nebraska Republican Rep. Lee Terry, who maintains that the Obama administration has been too slow in making a final decision, the Montreal Gazette reports.

The Canadian province of Alberta has the world’s third-largest oil reserves after Saudi Arabia and Venezuela, and more than Russia or Iran. Daily production from oil sands is expected to rise from 1.5 million barrels today to 3.7 million in 2025.

Delivering the oil will mean building two pipelines, one south to the refineries on the Texas Gulf Coast and the other west toward the Pacific, where it can be exported to China.

If the United States doesn’t approve its pipeline promptly due to environmental concerns, “Canada might increasingly look to China, thinking America doesn’t want a big stake in what environmentalists call ‘dirty oil,’ which they say increases greenhouse gas emissions,” according to a report from The Associated Press.

Sinopec, a Chinese-controlled company, has invested $5.5 billion in the planned pipeline to the Pacific coast.

Sinopec has also paid $4.6 billion for a stake in Syncrude, Canada’s largest oil-sands project, and PetroChina, Asia’s largest oil and gas company, bought a $1.7 billion stake in Athabasca Oil Sands Corp.

According to Alberta Premier Ed Stelmach, American government officials have expressed concerns about the Pacific pipeline delivering oil to China that might have otherwise gone to the United States.

It's all a crock

Watching the news about the oil spill is disheartening. Nothing said about the lack of response, only the comment from the president .."those responsible will .................." Wouldn't it be neat if those investigating would put the blame on him for not responding sooner?

I have talked recently with people from Florida, some good Liberals, who are furious with obama. They are talking more negatively about him than devout Conservatives.

I really don't see the good of placing blame when the event is still happening. Like  trying to convict someone for murder when the victim is still alive. I am sure obama is doing that to try to focus on someone else and remove his name from the list. He will eventually come out of this, I think, looking like a hero. He and his people are good at that sort of thing.

I have talked with many this weekend, some good liberals, who are adamant that he will only be a one term president. I disagree. Those who orchestrate his life are smart. Here is my reasoning.

He could not beat old Hillary.

He could not win the election.

He could not get his health bill passed.

BUT HE DID!

I cannot see where anyone or anything is happening to see that he does not win the next election. Look at the results of the last one ....  he won  or just did ............. what had to be done to get elected. Why not in three years.

I got in some deep discussions, with good Democrats  who predicted his ouster in three years. I told them they were wrong. They mentioned the "oil" thing and other reasons why he would not be elected. I just told them to remember me after the next election.

I'm  sick of it all. We all seemed to agree though that everyone was living with their head up their butt, and seemed to be content that way, and just let the world pass them by.

Here's an interesting read: and some important and verifiable information

About 6 months ago, the writer was watching a news program on oil and one of the Forbes brothers was the guest. The host said to Forbes, "I am going to ask you a direct question and I would like a direct answer; how much oil does the U.S. have in the ground?" Forbes did not miss a beat, he said, "More than all the Middle East put together."

Please read below:

The U. S. Geological Service issued a report in April 2008 that only scientists and oil men knew was coming, but man was it big! It was a revised report (which had not been updated since 1995) on how much oil was in this area of the western 2/3 of North Dakota, western South Dakota, and extreme eastern Montana .....

Check THIS out:

The Bakken is the largest domestic oil discovery since Alaska's Prudhoe Bay, and has the potential to eliminate all American dependence on foreign oil. The Energy Information Administration (EIA) estimates it at 503 billion barrels. Even if just 10% of the oil is recoverable. At $107 a barrel, we're looking at a resource base worth more than $5.3 trillion.

"When I first briefed legislators on this, you could practically see their jaws hit the floor. They had no idea." says Terry Johnson, the Montana Legislature's financial analyst.

"This sizable find is now the highest-producing onshore oil field found in the past 56 years," reports The Pittsburgh Post Gazette. It's a formation known as the Williston Basin, but is more commonly referred to as the 'Bakken.' It stretches from Northern Montana, through North Dakota and into Canada. For years, U. S. oil exploration has been considered a dead end. Even the 'Big Oil' companies gave up searching for major oil wells decades ago. However, a recent technological breakthrough has opened up the Bakken's massive reserves. We now have access of up to 500 billion barrels. And because this is light, sweet oil, those billions of barrels will cost Americans just $16 PER BARREL!

That's enough crude to fully fuel the American economy for 2041 years straight. And if THAT didn't throw you on the floor, then this next one should - because the information is from 2006!

U. S. Oil Discovery- Largest Reserve in the World

Stansberry Report Online - 4/20/2006

Hidden 1,000 feet beneath the surface of the Rocky Mountains lies the largest untapped oil reserve in the world. It is more than 2 TRILLION barrels. On August 8, 2005 President Bush mandated its extraction. In three and a half years of high oil prices none has been extracted. With this 'mother lode' of oil why are we still fighting over off-shore drilling?

They reported this stunning news: We have more oil inside our borders, than all the other proven reserves on earth. Here are the official estimates:

- 8-times as much oil as Saudi Arabia
- 18-times as much oil as Iraq
- 21-times as much oil as Kuwait
- 22-times as much oil as Iran
- 500-times as much oil as Yemen
- and it's all right here in the Western United States .

HOW can this BE? HOW can we NOT BE extracting this? Because the environmentalists and others have blocked all efforts to help America become independent of foreign oil! Again, we are letting a small group of people dictate our lives and our economy.

WHY?

James Bartis, lead researcher with the study says we've got more oil in this very compact area than the entire Middle East -more than 2 TRILLION barrels untapped. That's more than all the proven oil reserves of crude oil in the world today, reports The Denver Post.

Don't think 'OPEC' will drop its price - even with this find? Think again! It's all about the competitive marketplace, - it has to.

Do ya' think OPEC just might be funding the environmentalists?

Got your attention yet? Now, while you're thinking about it, do this: