Sen Coburn: A Closer Look at the President's offshore drilling plans

Most of us have heard over the years "the devil is in the details" and the announcement by Obama to approve offshore drilling off the coast of Virginia is no different. As facts begin to emerge, you realize that once again Obama was just talk to curry favor with Republicans to get their votes for Cap and Trade. Without Republican Lindsey Graham in the Senate, the whole Cap and Trade would be silent for the rest of the year.

In this morning's email, Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK) describes the "facts" of the President's proposal for offshore drilling. The offshore drilling Obama touted will NEVER happen on his (Obama's) watch. Obama may be the most dishonest President ever to give a big announcement knowing full well he has no intention of offshore drilling to start on his watch and neglects to mention that. We are glad that Republicans in Congress are not buying into Obamaspeak.

This President has chosen the path to keep us dependent on foreign oil from countries who can send us into an oil crises at any time they want by decreasing oil production. The two top exporting countries of oil to the United States are Canada and Mexico who are solid suppliers of crude oil. After that, the counties who provide foreign oil to the US could adversely impact the US if they decide to cut production: Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, Iraq, Algeria, Colombia, Brazil, Angola, Ecuador, Russia, United Kingdom, Kuwait, Gabon. Which one of the other 13 countries with the exception of the United Kingdome, do you want to depend on for the future of oil imports?

With such an abundance of our own energy resources, why do Democrats want us to remain dependent on foreign oil? Why have Democrats backed the EPA's rules for building new refineries to make it cost prohibitive or to even modernize in some cases? Bottom line is why do Democrats continue to block our domestic energy production?

Dear Sharon,

I read with great interest President Obama’s recent announcement that he was planning to expand offshore drilling. These resources are plentiful and can play a key role in securing our energy needs.

Unfortunately, it did not take long to realize that his plan offered very little hope for American energy security. This is an excerpt from the Administration’s own fact sheet supporting the announcement:

“Question: Does the Administration’s announcement regarding the current 5-year program mean that the area off Virginia in the Mid-Atlantic OCS planning area will be opened for oil and gas development?

Not necessarily. Offering the sale off of Virginia is only the first step in an orderly process that includes environmental reviews and analyses, regulatory compliance, exploration, testing and other considerations. The announcement does not guarantee that that area will be leased, evaluated, explored and developed for oil and gas.

Question: Does the Administration’s announcement for the new 5-year program (2012 -2017) mean the Mid Atlantic, South Atlantic, and Eastern Gulf of Mexico OCS planning areas will be open to oil and gas development in the next 5-year program?

Not necessarily. Scoping in an area or inclusion in an Environmental Impact Statement does not mean that an area will ultimately be made available for leasing. However, an area must be analyzed in the EIS in order to be considered for leasing. Decisions as to whether to schedule lease sales in these areas, and if so, whether to remove from leasing consideration those parts of the planning areas with conflicting uses (e.g., military training requirements; shipping lands) or particular sensitivity, will come later in the process of developing the new 5-year program and the pre-sale process.

”And what is the most important detail of all? Much of the plan cannot even go into place until 2022 at the earliest because of a drilling moratorium in the eastern Gulf of Mexico.

In other words, nothing really changes. Rather than offering false hope, as this plan does, Congress and the President should be straightforward with the American people.

The truth is that we are energy dependent by choice. We are blessed with vast sources of traditional and renewable resources that can be accessed safely and responsibly. Yet, by law and by regulation, we have marginalized both at great cost to our nation. The 2009 trade deficit of $517 billion included $204 billion in petroleum imports.

Congress should end its moratorium in the eastern Gulf now, allowing energy producers to apply for leases through the normal process. It should end non-sense regulations that are designed expressly to frustrate and prevent exploration. And it should stop placing barriers in the way of renewable energy development on the more than 650 millions acres of federally owned land.

Sincerely,

s/Tom Coburn

Dr. Tom

JUST THE FACTS The United States has the largest reserve of recoverable fossil fuels (oil, natural gas, and coal) in the world.

Natural Gas: Total potential natural gas supplies are estimated at 1,836 trillion cubic feet (TCF), up 39 percent in just three years.

Oil: Proved oil reserves stand at 21 billion barrels, and estimated technically recoverable oil reserves include 146 billion barrels. Oil shale formations in the western United States, which have historically been too costly to develop, contain over 1 trillion barrels of oil.

Coal: The United States has the largest coal reserves in the world, accounting for 28 percent of the total world deposits.

We are also blessed with substantial renewable energy sources. Of the more than 650 million acres owned by the federal government, 140 million acres are classified as having significant geothermal energy potential, over 29 million acres of federal land have significant solar energy potential, and there are 21 million acres with documented wind energy potential.

On April 8, 2010, the January 2010 Import Highlights were released for Crude Oil and Total Petroleum Imports Top 15 Countries

Monthly data on the origins of crude oil imports in January 2010 has been released and it shows that two countries exported more than 1.00 million barrels per day to the United States (see table below). The top five exporting countries accounted for 67 percent of United States crude oil imports in January while the top ten sources accounted for approximately 90 percent of all U.S. crude oil imports. The top five sources of US crude oil imports for January were Canada (1.882 million barrels per day), Mexico (1.033 million barrels per day), Nigeria (0.996 million barrels per day), Saudi Arabia (0.958 million barrels per day), and Venezuela (0.827 million barrels per day). The rest of the top ten sources, in order, were Iraq (0.506 million barrels per day), Algeria (0.327) million barrels per day), Colombia (0.293 million barrels per day), Brazil (0.271 million barrels per day), and Angola (0.268 million barrels per day). Total crude oil imports averaged 8.454 million barrels per day in January, which is an increase of 0.321 million barrels per day from December 2009.

Canada remained the largest exporter of total petroleum in January, exporting 2.593 million barrels per day to the United States, which is a decrease from last month (2.649 thousand barrels per day). The second largest exporter of total petroleum was Mexico with 1.131 million barrels per day.