Is drilling for oil just a tactic that oil companies use to get more oil? Why do we need to drill?

Sorry, I just had to post this after reading the ';answers'; that Dems come up with against drilling for oil. It's amazing to me how biased and uneduacted so many people are.Is drilling for oil just a tactic that oil companies use to get more oil? Why do we need to drill?
Why do we need to drill?





Because we currently send $700 billion per year to countries who fund terrorist organizations who want to kill american's. Plus, we are at their mercy. If they decided to stop selling oil to us then we would have no way to fuel our military and defend ourselves. Is drilling for oil just a tactic that oil companies use to get more oil? Why do we need to drill?
dude,you are a moron ! Report Abuse

Offshore drilling is just a tactic.





Big Oil has proven sites leased out now - THAT THEY REFUSE TO DRILL. Thats right. Millions of acres of land they have leased the title to from the federal government. These sites are sitting idle.





Next, there are still over 68,000,000 drillable acres of federal land and offshore sites available for private companies to drill.





Big Oil is creating a distraction! They go on these Public Relations Campaigns to blame liberals, democrats and environmentalist. They do this to keep the average American off their backs.





Recap


- big oil has proven oil sites sitting idle


- big oil won't even lease the 68,000,000 acres of drillable land and offshore sites available (more land than the size of Colorado).


- big oil is making record profits.
I really don't think the oil companies want to drill more. I mean, look, they are making record profits despite (because of?) the fact that crude production is down. If you can make MORE profit while spending LESS on production, that is a pretty sweet deal for them.


Exploration for more oil costs a hell of a lot of money and it takes a long time to pay off. No exec likes to cut into today's profits to benefit some future holder of their position.





As evidence, they have access to lots of areas for exploration which they aren't using. Also, notice how when gas prices got high enough to suddenly get congress seriously talking about lifting bans on drilling offshore and in ANWR, gas prices came down all of a sudden! Hmmmm.



to the Dems or those that don't understand , in a free market system the more of a commodity that is available to the market the lower the price will be.








a trickle of oil = high prices





a gusher of oil = lower prices





there you go while you are riding the short bus 'to where ever' you will have something to think about.






And you are so right... Ive talked till I'm blue in the face on this,and they still don't get it... We send$700 billion dollars a year overseas,to Country's that hate us. The argument they throw up about Oil company's all ready have land,this is true... What they don't throw up is in order to drill,they must have the okay from....You know who,Congress!!! And we see how worthless Congress is. The ten year theory,more propaganda,we could have oil pumping into barrels in five.. And they don't even bring up the sheer mention of drilling has OPEC shaking in its boots. The reasons are so very many,i cant even list them all.But the Democrats,in there infinite wisdom,don't care about America. Which is why the only choice is McCain.
Oil companies have no interest in drilling for more oil. If they did, they would use the land leases they already have!





They have the supply just right for the current demand. They have the upper hand. They also know that they have to milk this cow for all it's worth because alternative energy use is going to happen.
Oil drilling is literally using heavy machines to drill into the earth to get oil. (See my source.)





I guess you could say it's a ';tactic'; but it's really more of a method or procedure.





Drilling gets us more oil, which is currently used for all kinds of things from powering automobiles, to make pesticides (which allows us to get more out of our food crops).


To read more about the importance of oil in our life (and the results of not having enough), see my second source.


I'm not saying we should drill for oil like crasy, or to not drill at all. Just pointing out what oil does for us.
drilling for more oil is much like smoking just a bit more crack before going into rehab








Republican plan to expand domestic oil drilling -- instead of forcing oil companies to drill on the 68 million acres they've already leased -- is a ';hoax'; and ';unworthy of serious debate.';


http://www.cnsnews.com/Public/checker.as…
Sen. Barack Obama injected a startling claim into the debate on energy, asserting in a Missouri town hall meeting that the country could save more gas from inflating its tires and tuning up its cars than would be gained from drilling more off its coasts.





“There are things that you can do individually, though, to save energy,” Obama said in the July 30, 2008, appearance. “Making sure your tires are properly inflated — simple thing. But we could save all the oil that they’re talking about getting off drilling, if everybody was just inflating their tires, and getting regular tune-ups. You could actually save just as much.”





Sen. John McCain and his allies — who advocate lifting the federal moratorium that bans drilling in some areas of the Outer Continental Shelf off the U.S. coasts — immediately mocked Obama for the claim. The McCain campaign even offered to send “Obama Energy Plan” tire gauges to anyone who sent in a donation of $25 or more.





The McCain campaign’s assumption seemed to be that Obama’s claim was utterly implausible. And, we admit, it kind of sounds that way. But is it?





Under-inflated tires — to say nothing of poorly tuned cars — are actually a serious problem, as government agencies, industry groups, conservationists and outside experts have been saying for years. (The Obama campaign even cited a number of instances when prominent McCain supporters echoed the call for more public awareness about tire inflation.)





“A lot of people are driving around on severely under-inflated tires,” said Robert Sinclair, Jr., a spokesman for the American Automobile Association. “Try riding a bicycle with under-inflated tires. It’s hard for the human engine to push it ahead. Pump it up, it seems like you’re gliding on air.”





The same thing happens with a car. Under-inflated tires can lower gas mileage by .4 percent for every 1 pounds-per-square-inch drop in tire pressure, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.





The best estimate available, by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, is that at least a quarter of drivers are cruising around on under-inflated tires. In April, the Rubber Manufacturers Association, the Auto Club, the California Highway Patrol and Yokohama Tire Company used those statistics, along with Department of Transportation and Automobile Association of America data, to extrapolate that 2.8-billion gallons of gas are lost every year due to under-inflation of tires.





That’s an estimate, to be sure, and not one from a published, peer-reviewed study. But remember, Obama said we “could” save all the oil available from offshore drilling in the protected areas — not we “would” — so if the claim is merely plausible he’s on solid ground.





So how much oil is available offshore? According to the latest assessment from the Minerals Management Service, the mean estimate of undiscovered technically recoverable crude oil in the Outer Continental Shelf areas that are currently under moratorium is about 18-billion barrels (see here.)





But it couldn’t all be extracted immediately. The agency estimates that if the moratorium were lifted production could start by 2017, and by 2030, oil companies could be producing 2.4-million barrels of oil instead of 2.2-million. That’s 200,000 more barrels per day.





After refining, a barrel of oil can produce up to 19.5 gallons of gasoline, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. So that’s 3.9-million more gallons of gasoline per day, or 1.4-billion gallons of gasoline per year.





And remember, an estimated 2.8-billion gallons of gas are lost annually due to under-inflated tires.





And we didn’t even talk about tune-ups. (Repairing a car that is noticeably out of tune or has failed an emissions test improves gas mileage by 4 percent on average, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. Fixing a more serious problem, such as a bad oxygen sensor, can improve mileage by up to 40 percent, the agency says.)





All of the numbers in this analysis are estimates, we should emphasize. Oil industry experts told us estimates of the amount of oil offshore and how fast it could be extracted vary widely, and the Energy Information Administration’s number is fairly optimistic. Likewise, it’s highly unlikely any public awareness effort could change behavior enough to save 2.8-billion gallons of gasoline per day.














Get your facts straight.
I hear you but here is the deal..





People complain that drilling makes more money for the oil companies.. Ok fine.. But riddle me this..





Anyone understand the law of supply and demand? Wen Supply is low and demand is high prices increase.. To lower prices you either lower demand(that ain't happening) or increase supply..... Easy Huh?





Well.. We have cry baby liberals saying that drilling is to pad the pockets of the oil companies. well think about it.. if you increase supply and LOWER the price... they will be making less per barrel than they are now.





We will be paying less at the pump.... this will hold us over until companies can come up with alternative fuels..






Please give me a break . We do not need to off shore drill . There is plenty of oil on land that the oil corps do not even use . This keeps the prices high. Simple .


Big Oil just wants the control and option of off shore drilling . This will never translate into lower gas prices . I wonder how Republicans can allow themselves to be consistently duped my these corporations who have only their own profit in mind and screw the rest of us.
We need to drill because our economy is dependent on oil and will be for decades while we convert to alternatives like Nuclear, Wind and Solar. Until these are VIABLE sources, we must reduce the amount of cash transferred out of our country to nations that HATE us and support terrorism.
So we can't be intimated by third world powers and have a supply of oil we can rely on.





Russia adventures into their former states is a result of the ability to quiet Europe response with their gas and oil exports.
The oil companies already have 5 million acres of offshore leases that they could start drilling tomorrow - they are just sitting on them to drive up the price of oil. It's amazing to me how biased and UNEDUCATED so many people are.
Right now we are sending seven hundred billion dollar a year to foreign countries. We need our own oil to keep that here. Not rocket science at all.
What's so wrong with more oil. Larger supply of oil in the world brings down gasoline prices, but then the Democrats WANT high gasoline prices to save the world.
Simple. Even you should be aware the demand for oil is increasing and supply is declining.
WEll I guess you can grow it..
dude,the dem lemmings are clueless.keep up the good work. http://americansolutions.com/drillnow
Because oil = profits for them bastards!