Richard Tafoya
Jun 20th, 2008, 11:35 AM
Tampa Bay Tribune:
http://www.tampabay.com/news/politics/article633915.ece
For starters, the lead time for oil exploration takes years. Even if offshore drilling areas opened up tomorrow, experts say it would take at least 10 years to realize any significant production. And even then, they say, the U.S. contribution to the overall global oil market would not be enough to make a significant dent in the price of gas.
"Drilling offshore to lower oil prices is like walking an extra 20 feet per day to lose weight," said David Sandalow, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and author of Freedom From Oil. "It's just not going to make much difference."
It takes years to bring new oil wells online, said Mike Rodgers, a leading oil expert with PFC Energy in Washington. Companies need to drill exploratory wells, then discovery wells around the exploratory wells that show promise. Shipyards that build platforms, a two- to three-year endeavor, are already booked solid.
"It's foolish to sell it as a short-term solution to high gas prices," Rodgers said. "Opening offshore drilling would have no impact whatsoever on gas prices today."
...
An analysis performed by the Energy Information Administration, an independent statistical and analytical agency within the U.S. Department of Energy, found in a report published in 2007 that opening up the outer continental shelf in the Pacific, Atlantic and eastern gulf regions would result in production no sooner than 2017 and would not have a significant effect on domestic crude oil production before 2030.
...
ANWR would add only 1 to 2 percent to the overall world oil supply, said Philip Budzig, who wrote the Energy Information Administration report. The report concluded drilling there would subtract anywhere from 41 cents to $1.44 per barrel of crude oil around 2025. That translates to a savings of just a couple of pennies per gallon at the pump. Again, in 2025.
http://www.tampabay.com/news/politics/article633915.ece
For starters, the lead time for oil exploration takes years. Even if offshore drilling areas opened up tomorrow, experts say it would take at least 10 years to realize any significant production. And even then, they say, the U.S. contribution to the overall global oil market would not be enough to make a significant dent in the price of gas.
"Drilling offshore to lower oil prices is like walking an extra 20 feet per day to lose weight," said David Sandalow, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and author of Freedom From Oil. "It's just not going to make much difference."
It takes years to bring new oil wells online, said Mike Rodgers, a leading oil expert with PFC Energy in Washington. Companies need to drill exploratory wells, then discovery wells around the exploratory wells that show promise. Shipyards that build platforms, a two- to three-year endeavor, are already booked solid.
"It's foolish to sell it as a short-term solution to high gas prices," Rodgers said. "Opening offshore drilling would have no impact whatsoever on gas prices today."
...
An analysis performed by the Energy Information Administration, an independent statistical and analytical agency within the U.S. Department of Energy, found in a report published in 2007 that opening up the outer continental shelf in the Pacific, Atlantic and eastern gulf regions would result in production no sooner than 2017 and would not have a significant effect on domestic crude oil production before 2030.
...
ANWR would add only 1 to 2 percent to the overall world oil supply, said Philip Budzig, who wrote the Energy Information Administration report. The report concluded drilling there would subtract anywhere from 41 cents to $1.44 per barrel of crude oil around 2025. That translates to a savings of just a couple of pennies per gallon at the pump. Again, in 2025.