API Responds to “Bill’s Comment”
September 23, 2008
Back on September 8th we posted a story from API (American Petroleum Institute), “Gang of 10 Becomes Gang of 16 as Senators Defect”. On September 22nd, Bill Hepler left a comment on our website disputing some of the claims in the story. To be fair, we responded as best we could, but forwarded an e-mail to API’s Jane Van Ryan asking her to respond.
Bill’s comment was this:
This note seems to come directly from “EnergyTomorrow.org” – which appears to be a group of “big oil” companies, with a distinctly short term view of our energy problems.
Comments that the US could have as many as 30 billion barrels of undiscovered, but recoverable oil on lands that are off-limits, ignore reality – that is – oil is a finite resource that we are using rapidly. I understand the US uses >20 M Barrels of oil/day, so 30 BB would last less than 1500 days – less than 5 years at current consumption rates.
Oil is presently a critical part of what provides us with a good standard of living, but, the fact is we will end up using less of it – it is a finite resource. We need to get onto alternatives – even though these alternatives are almost certain to be more expensive than oil.
(BTW, I think it is good that oil companies are making large profits from present oil prices – first of all that’s how free enterprise works, and secondly high prices are a very effective way to encourage conservation of oil. Like you, I oppose the windfall profits tax). I do think that all countries (including the US & Canada) should impose a “carbon tax” or an equivalent on all fossil fuels.
Really, in the long term, countries who eliminate their dependency on the finite supplies of fossil fuels are going to be much better off than countries which continue to stay wedded to fossil fuel use. For one thing, if global climate change or other environmental factors do not stop them from selling fossil fuels – it can become something to export rather than something that is depended on and must be imported!
Here is API’s response from Jane Van Ryan:
Thanks for giving me a chance to comment on Bill’s letter. First, www.energytomorrow.org is owned and operated by API. There’s nothing secretive about that. It is properly disclosed on the website in several places.
Second, Bill’s calculations on how quickly the US would consume the undiscovered oil do not align with the facts. This country would not – and could not – drain these undiscovered resources while ignoring oil from all other sources, including existing producing wells. The US is the third largest oil producer now and could greatly expand production if more areas were opened to exploration and production. This new oil could help to power the US for many years to come. Perhaps more importantly, newly developed domestic oil would help to lessen our dependence on oil from unstable countries and greatly improve our energy security. Wouldn’t the US be better off if it could develop its own energy resources, create jobs for US workers, and invest more dollars in the US?
We agree with Bill’s comment on alternatives. In fact, the oil and natural gas industry believes this nation needs all of the energy it can get, including alternatives, renewables and fossil fuels. Government statistics clearly show that our energy consumption is rising, and we will need a portfolio of energy sources to meet future demand. In the meantime, we can’t just turn off the oil spigot. Rather we need to continue to produce oil and natural gas until our economy can make a shift to whatever alternative energy sources are adopted by the marketplace. I am reminded of a comment made by Sheik Yamani many years ago. Yamani was Saudi Arabia’s oil minister when he said that the world didn’t leave the Stone Age because it ran out of stones. His point was clear: the world won’t leave the Age of Petroleum because it runs out of oil. Instead, it will find something that is more efficient, more affordable, more portable and flexible than oil. We haven’t found it yet, but some very smart scientists and engineers are working hard on new technologies and fuels.
If you want to direct Bill and others to third-party information that provides basic facts about supply, demand, estimates of the amount of undiscovered oil in the US, etc., look at this document: http://www.api.org/aboutoilgas/upload/truth_primer.pdf It is a compilation of charts from government agencies and other sources. By the way, this information did not originate at API; we merely compiled it into one easy-to-read document.
Comments
Got something to say?
