Is “Drill Baby Drill” a Big Lie or is President Obama a Big Liar?

“Anyone who tells you we can drill our way out of this problem doesn’t know what they’re talking about -- or just isn’t telling you the truth. It’s the easiest thing in the world to make phony election-year promises about lower gas prices. What’s harder is to make a serious, sustained commitment to tackle a problem. And it won’t be solved in one year, it won’t be solved in one term, it may not be solved in one decade. But that’s the kind of commitment we need right now.”

So who is telling the truth, President Obama or those who claim there is ample energy resources underneath the United States to meet our needs for many years to come.

To answer this question I refer to a 2010 report by the Congressional Research Service (CRS). The CRS reports to the Congress, it is charged with providing research and analysis that is authoritative, confidential, objective and nonpartisan.

Released in November 2010, U.S. Fossil Fuel Resources: Terminology, Reporting, and Summary, details the scope of our energy reserves.

President Obama and his progressive allies say the U.S. possesses just two or three percent of the world’s oil. This figure narrowly relies on America’s proven reserves of just 28 billion barrels. Of course you can’t have “proven reserves” until you drill for them.

Oil

The non-partisan CRS compiled government estimates which show that the United States has 163 billion barrels of recoverable oil. That’s enough oil to meet all of U.S. needs without importing any oil for more than 50 years. Our combined recoverable oil, natural gas, and coal endowment is the largest on Earth. America’s recoverable resources are far larger than those of Saudi Arabia (3rd), China (4th), and Canada (6th) combined. And that’s not including the United States’ huge oil shale and methane hydrates deposits.

Natural Gas

The CRS report refers to a 2009 assessment from the Potential Gas Committee that estimates that America’s future supply of natural gas is 2,047 trillion cubic feet (TCF). This figure is more than 25 percent higher than the same Committee’s 2006 estimate. At today’s rate of use, this is enough natural gas to meet American demand for 90 years.

Coal

The CRS report also shows that America has the most coal resources in the world. In fact, our coal resources account for more than 28 percent of the world’s reserves. Russia is a distant second followed by China in third place. The CRS cites America’s recoverable coal reserves to be 262 billion short tons. For perspective, the U.S. consumes just 1.2 billion short tons of coal per year. The CRS also states: “...U.S. coal resource estimates do not include some potentially massive deposits of coal that exist in northwestern Alaska. These currently inaccessible coal deposits have been estimated to be more than 3,200 billion short tons of coal.”

Oil Shale

Oil shale was not included in the CRS totals. But the Green River Formation located within Colorado, Wyoming, and Utah contains the equivalent of 6 trillion barrels of oil. The Department of Energy estimates that, of this 6 trillion, approximately 1.38 trillion barrels are potentially recoverable. That’s equivalent to more than five times the conventional oil reserves of Saudi Arabia.

When the entire U.S. resources (except for shale oil) are aggregated we see the United States has more fossil fuel reserves than any other country in the world.

The President also pointed out that drilling is not a quick fix. Indeed, many people accurately point out that it can take 5-10 years once drilling begins for that supply to reach the pipeline.

That claim ignores the fact that speculation is driving up the cost of oil. Some of you may remember when crude oil prices jumped in 2008. The high point was $145 a barrel in early July. When President Bush lifted the executive ban on offshore oil drilling on July 14th, prices immediately began to drop. By the end of December 2008, crude oil spot price fell to $30.28 a barrel. Just the threat of new drilling drove down costs.

Along with dropping fuel costs, the added benefit to President Obama aggressively tapping our own energy reserves would be the almost immediate creation of energy related jobs. Those brand new energy related jobs would create new jobs in other industries including the consumer goods those new energy employees would now be able to purchase.

According to President Obama, anybody who claims that we can drill our way out of the present high cost of energy is a liar. Based on a report created by the non-partisan Congressional Research Service (published at a time when the Democrats controlled both houses of Congress), it is the President who is being less than honest with the American public. Our oil reserves are much larger than he claims and history shows even the threat of new drilling serves to depress oil prices pumped up by speculators.

Jeff Dunetz is the Editor/Publisher of the political blog “The Lid” (www.jeffdunetz.com). Jeff contributes to some of the largest political sites on the internet including American Thinker, Big Government, Big Journalism, NewsReal and Pajama’s Media, and has been a guest on national radio shows including G. Gordon Liddy, Tammy Bruce and Glenn Beck. Jeff lives in Long Island.