If you are like me, you believe that our country’s dependency on foreign oil is dangerous. An enemy could surely bring us to our collective knees if that supply were to be cut off. I have also wondered why we don’t develop the resources we have in Alaska or off the three coasts. And, then there are those other ideas about conservation and developing worthwhile alternative fuels. Well, it simply got to the point where I decided to do a little research and get my own answers. Here are some interesting things I learned.
• According to The US Energy Information Administration, our county consumes more than seven-billion barrels of oil each year. That means each one of us (man, woman and child) consumes approximately 20 barrels of oil each year.
• Each of those barrels is 42 gallons and when refined produces 20 gallons of gasoline plus additional petroleum products. Therefore our typical tank of gas (about 15 gallons) requires approximately 30 gallons of crude oil.
• When you hear politicians suggest that we buy the bulk of our oil “from countries who do not like us very much” they are twisting the truth. For starters, we actually generate about 40% of our own oil. Of our imported oil, we get the most from Canada. After that, 4 other countries each send us about the same amount. They are Mexico, Saudi Arabia, Venezuela and Africa. We get along fairly well with our primary suppliers with the exception of Venezuela. However, most of this conversation is a mute point because we never really know exactly whose oil we are buying. It is all a part of the same commodities market. So the fact that we get most of our imported oil from Canada and Mexico is mostly a matter of shipping costs. But the basic point is refuted because we get most of our oil from ourselves and relatively good friends. In another odd twist, we actually export some of our own Alaskan oil to Taiwan, China, Japan and South Korea
• Various batches of crude oil get mixed at refineries and during shipping. The same goes for batches of refined gas. Therefore the gasoline sold at a particular gas station is not necessarily refined by that same company.
• The US has plenty more untapped oil. If we continue to import 60% of our oil, we have a 25-year supply from oil sands, which is what we get from Canada; and, we have an additional 30-year supply in the Outer Continental shelf (OTC); and we have about a 4-year supply in Alaska.
• It was wrongly reported by Dr. Leigh Price, in a study in year 2000, that there may be as much a 400-billion barrels of “potential resources” in an area in North Dakota and Montana known as the Bakken Formation. New studies by U. S. Geological Survey reveal the actual number of recoverable barrels is closer to several billion. There is also nearly two-trillion cubic feet of natural gas and 148 million barrels of natural gas liquids. All of that is available right now.
• Terriadaily is among those wrongly suggesting there may be as many as 1.2 TRILLION barrels of oil hiding in shale in Colorado, Wyoming and Utah in an area known as Green River Basin. Other people have suggested there is enough potential product in the area to provide for the US oil market for at least 100 years. However, those estimates appear to be wildly exaggerated. In fact an article by Fact Check which also references studies by Snopes, have the available oil way, way lower (interestingly, both Fact Check and Snopes are challenged in a readers comment at the end of the article). There is a bit of good news in the mix. It has been speculated that one-million barrels per day might be retrievable in twenty-years, but that is still only 365-million barrels per year or 7% of what we use. Until more studies are completed there is no reason to expect much more from these fields.
As I see it, we have a hand-full of primary options or any blend of them:
1) If we remain on the same path, we will be desperately low of oil in about 20 years. However, if we develop our currently known resources that remain untapped, our supplies will last at least 50 years. But either of these choices leave us vulnerable to the whims of other countries as we continue to send enormous amounts of our money to them.
2) If we are willing to reduce our percentage of imported oil from 60% to 25% we have enough for 30 years. In this case we can eliminate all of our suppliers, except for Canada whom we clearly consider our friends.
3) If we want to rely exclusively on our own oil, we have only enough for about 20 years. It would take at least 5 years to get wells pumping and refineries constructed.
4) Technology could improve and make the Bakken or Green River Basin, more productive.
5) The US has substantial amounts of natural gas. If we can build a good distribution system and exploit this fuel we could indeed become energy independent for 100 years or more.
The bottom line is we do not have to be dependent on foreign energy forever. By developing these sources and alternate sources of energy we can avoid the other suppliers or at least force them to lower their prices.
Good article about untapped reserve.
Listen to this podcast by USGS about Bakken reserves
Wikipedia has good stats about Bakken
We have 100 years of natural gas in Louisiana
It is getting easier to process shale.
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