ANWR & Offshore Drilling

Some of the sharpest debate over efforts to expand the domestic energy supply involve proposed drilling in the Artic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) and offshore on the outer continental shelf, particularly off the Atlantic seaboard.  As sharp as those debates may be, the outcome of either will have very little material impact on US dependence on foreign oil.  America the Prisoner neither endorses nor opposes drilling in ANWR or offshore, however, the public and national leaders deserve all of the facts as they continue to debate.

As of 2008, the US imported about 13 million barrels per day of petroleum.  The most optimistic projections for ANWR are a peak output of 1.3 million barrels per day, achievable 20 years from the onset of operations.  Accordingly, ANWR could, at best, replace 10% of foreign oil consumption – and that is, by far, the largest single untapped domestic deposit.

Offshore drilling is certainly not a new idea.  The Gulf of Mexico is highly active for petroleum production.  Offshore deposits have been surveyed all along the US coastline, including along the Atlantic seaboard, by the Minerals Management Service division of the US Department of Interior (the agency responsible for managing oil deposits on government controlled land).  Their reports show that virtually all major offshore oil deposits are already open to exploration.  Well over half of US deepwater resources are in the Gulf of Mexico, with some moderate in the Pacific and along the Alaskan coast.  The hotly debated Atlantic coastline is home to only 3.3% of the nation’s deepwater resources. 

ANWR and new areas that could be opened to offshore drilling offer essentially no hope of having any material impact on foreign oil dependence.  The resources are simply too insignificant relative to US consumption.  Sure, every little bit helps, but those angrily debating the topic should keep in mind that they big issue, foreign oil dependence, cannot be solved even if the whole country were opened to drilling.  Perhaps the most telling fact in the entire book is this:  in the USA, there are more than 300 times as many producing oil wells in the US as there are in Saudi Arabia.  The US has been drilled, drilled again, and drilled some more.  Few things are certain in life, but one of the few things that is:  more drilling in the US is not the answer to foreign oil dependence.