When Oil Men took over the USA in 2001:

• Oil was $27 per barrel.
• Gasoline was $1.46 per gallon.

Just sayin'......

Labels: Bob Bush, gasoline price, oil, oil price

The oil and gas industry has, on federal land leases, a large amount of unused acreage and unused drilling permits. Yet, they are using high energy prices and other scare tactics as excuses to open up even more areas to drilling.

During the Bush Administration, the federally-owned acreage leased to oil/gas companies has more than doubled - from 22,015,222 in 2001 to 44,479,478. Currently the oil/gas industry has 11,629,625 acres - 26% of the total - in production. Between 2003 and 2007 the additional amount of federally-owned acreage leased each year more than doubled, from 2,064,289 to 4,634,736.

Much of that acreage goes untouched. In 2007, the industry started work on 29% of Colorado acreage on which they received permits to drill. In Utah, the industry started work on 65% acreage on which they received permits to drill.

The number of permits issued each year has more than doubled, from 3439 permits approved in 2001 to 35,106 in 2007 ( a record high). In 2007, the industry drilled using 75% of those new permits, meaning that going into 2008 the industry had a large number of yet unused permits.

Huge amount of unused land leases. An ever-growing backlog of unused permits. And the industry threatens dire consequences if they can't have more immediately.

Source:
House Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies: Written responses from Secretary Dirk Kempthorne to questions submitted for the hearing record by Rep. Maurice Hinchey, oversight hearing on the FY 2008 Department of the Interior budget proposal, March 1, 2007

Even if none of that mattered: there is a 5-year backlog of offshore drilling rigs waiting to be built.

And even if that didn't matter:

There are liars who will tell you that offshore drilling is safe; so safe that 2005's big hurricanes had no impact or oil spills. Ask those liars to explain this:

Dennis Knizley looks out on an oil rig beached just off of Dauphin Island, Ala., Tuesday afternoon, Aug. 30, 2005, a day after Hurricane Katrina destroyed much of the island and brought the enormous structure a few hundred yards from shore. (AP Photo/Birmingham Post-Herald, Jan-Michael Stump)

That's far from being a lone example.

"The hurricanes totally destroyed 113 oil rigs, according to the government's Minerals Management Service, and damaged 457 pipelines. The resulting oil spills were large enough to be seen from space, according to several reports.

A review by the Houston Chronicle reported that the two storms in the summer of 2005 caused 595 oil spills that released an estimated 9 million gallons of oil into the gulf, much of that from oil storage facilities on the shores. The government said there were a total of 146 small oil spills in federal waters caused by the storms."

Isn't that like a kid

1. simultaneously asking for 2nds and 3rds and 4ths at dinner
2. demanding an immediate serving of dessert
3. insisting that no one ever cooks for him?

Labels: big oil, blm, bureau of land management, Department of the Interior, exploration, gasoline price, House Appropriations Subcommittee, Maurice Hinchey, millions of acres, offshore drilling, permits

When Oil Men Took Over The USA In 2001:

Oil was $27 per barrel.
Gasoline was $1.46 per gallon.
You do the math.
Just sayin'......

Labels: big oil, bush, cheney, foreign oil, gasoline price, oil, oil price, rip-off, ripoff