Why are Obama and the Democrats stopping more oil drilling in the United States?

We agree 100% with this paragraph from The American Thinker:

It is beyond absurd that a country sitting on so much natural wealth refuses to exploit it for the benefit of its citizens and instead deliberately puts the nation in the position of being subjected to the whims of others and face national insolvency. It almost appears to be deliberate.

This morning as I was reading the American Thinker about the oil reserves here in the United States that are untapped, my thoughts turned to what is taking place a few miles from where I live at the University of Oklahoma. Over the years, have met students from countries like Columbia, Saudi Arabia, Mexico, Canada to name a few who are at OU because of the Petroleum Engineering degree.

University of Oklahoma Mewbourne School of Petroleum and Engineering is at the forefront of research as one of the top five petroleum research universities in the Country. Within the school which is now part of a new separate College of Earth and Energy you find:

Integrated Core Characterization Center(IC3)
The Integrated Core Characterization Center consists of the complete Amoco rock physics laboratory. This laboratory has unparalleled industrial, commercial and academic capabilities and offers the widest range of measurement and research opportunities in the industry. It evolved from a seismic velocity measurement laboratory to an integrated facility that provides a vast array of petrophysical, seismic and rock mechanics capabilities.

PoroMechanics Institute
Established in September 1992, the PoroMechanics Institute (PMI) is a multidisciplinary research unit of the University of Oklahoma, Norman. The PMI offices and laboratories are located in the Sarkeys Energy Center, a 340,000-square-foot complex at the northeast corner of the campus housing more than 200 teaching and research laboratories.

Well Construction Technology Center
The Well Construction Technology Center is an advanced technology research center that incorporates high pressure, high temperature fluid flow applications using both field scale and lab scale equipment for the oil industry.

The Applied Surfactant Laboratory (ASL)
The ASL is located on the campus of the University of Oklahoma in the Sarkeys Energy Center. The ASL is composed of undergraduate students, graduate students, post doctoral students and researchers who conduct phase equilibrium, sand pack, and core flood studies for both environmental and crude oil recovery applications. ASL has labs in both Petroleum Engineering and Chemical Engineering Departments.

At Mewbourne, the students get a hands on experience on the rigs and for the last seven years have had a 100% placement rate for their students with over 90% going into the oil and gas industry. Students from oil producing countries around the world come to OU for their degrees in Petroleum Engineering. The faculty has been assembed from oil producing countries from around the world for their expertise.



When you combine the expertise of the University of Oklahoma and other major Petroleum Universities teaming with the leaders of oil and gas you are left with the question 'Why aren't we drilling more here and relying less on foreign oil?" The oil and gas fields are right here in the United States yet the Democrats oppose almost all drilling.

Yesterday the first drilling permit was handed out by Energy Secretary to British Petroleum -- get that BP -- same company that caused the huge oil spill in the Gulf and put a moratorium on oil drilling in the Gulf. What does that say about this Administration? Guess the rest of the Petroleum industry didn't donate enough to Obama's campaign.

When you read this article, you will see the large amount of resources we have in our own Country that are untouched because of the Democrats. Elections have consequences and we are seeing that today with the oil and gas industry that Obama has put on its back in the Gulf.

March 04, 2011
The Only Way Out for the American Economy
By Steve McCann

Economic despair reigns in America, as stagnation and mounting debt make our future look hopeless. Yet America is uniquely positioned to rebound and recover our economic preeminence. All that is necessary is a political decision to reverse our energy policy and stimulate domestic production of hydrocarbons. From that would flow a true economic stimulus that would mend many of our ills.

The United States is again, for the second time in less than three years, being reminded of its absurd dependence of foreign sources of energy, most notably, oil. The upheavals in the Middle East have driven up the cost of a barrel of oil into triple digits as it was in 2008. The increasing demands of countries such as China and India and the deliberate devaluation of the dollar by the Federal Reserve and the Obama administration are steadily pushing up oil prices in dollars.

The country's dependence of foreign sources has increased to 52% of the daily requirement as compared to 45% just 15 years ago. Over half of that amount comes from countries that are inherently unstable or ruled by despotic regimes whose interest it is to de-stabilize the United States.

Yet the United States is sitting on the world's largest untapped oil reserve. A natural resource that would not only mitigate the over $400 Billion sent overseas to other countries but could create untold millions of jobs and put the country on a sound financial footing.

The untapped reserves are estimated up to 2.3 Trillion barrels, nearly three times the reserves held by the OPEC countries and sufficient to meet 300 years of demand, at today's levels -- for auto, truck, aircraft, heating and industrial fuel, without importing a single barrel of oil.

The US could become the single largest exporter of oil and oil related products in the world, thus potentially eliminating its trade deficit, and increasing the national standard of living as well as making a massive dent in the national debt.

Here is a look at some of the largest untapped reserves:

The Bakken Fields in North and South Dakota. New drilling and oil recovery technology is making the capture of this oil feasible and some development is now underway. It is estimated that there is at least 200 Billion barrels of oil in this region. At a price of $100 per barrel the value of this find is $20 Trillion.

The Outer Continental shelf. It is estimated that around 90 billion barrels of oil sit beneath the ocean bed 50 to 100 miles off the shore of the Atlantic, Pacific and Gulf coasts. The value: $9 Trillion.

The Alaska National Wildlife Refuge. About 10 billion barrels are locked up here with a current value of $1 Trillion.

Tar Sands: Around 75 Billion barrels of oil could come from these areas which are similar to the Canadian tar sand fields and which now produce about 2 million barrels per day. The value: $7.5 Trillion

Oil Shale. This is the most massive area of potential oil production in the world with an estimated 1.5 Trillion barrel potential. The technology necessary to extract this oil is now in place and being operated on a pilot project basis. The value of this resource: $150 Trillion

There also the very real potential that further finds will be discovered as technology continues to improve.

In total the value of the potential oil reserves of the United States listed above exceeds $187 Trillion. The current national debt is $14.2 Trillion or less than 8%.

Despite the protestation of President Obama and the environmentalists the world and particularly the United States is not running out of oil. Their foolish tilting at windmills and solar will never produce energy sufficient to operate a $14Trillion and hopefully growing economy. It will be decades if not the rest of the 21st Century before any meaningful substitute for fossil fuels will be developed and additional time and investment will then be necessary to distribute the product.

Mankind's ingenuity has and will continue to develop technology to safely extract, process and market fossil fuels (which is a naturally occurring resource). But the United States must begin now to open the areas for exploration, and permit the construction of refineries and pipelines.

...

Excerpt: Read More at American Thinker