Buffalo Boy's Blog

All this hog wash about how the oil companies need more permission to drill off the continental shelf they need more areas to drill is a bunch of crap. They are also lying about the Chinese drilling off the coast of Florida. Show me proof of that and Ill shave the Yankees logo into my head. The Chinese aren't drilling off the coast of Florida, Cuba or anywhere close to the Gulf of Mexico. Its all a story. They are also feeding us a line of bull about the reasons why refineries haven't been built since the 1970's.

First, the big oil companies in this country have over 10,000 permits/leases with which they have permission to drill on 44 million acres of the Gulf of Mexico, the continental shelf on both coasts and on PUBLIC LANDS, thats right public lands!!!!. They are not using any of these permits or very few of them so even if there is oil, they have permission they just aren't drilling.

Second, the Chinese are not drilling off the coast of Cuba or Florida or anywhere in the Gulf, its a story to get house and senate leaders to give them more rights than they already have, more than the 10,000 permits they are already using!!!!!!!!

Third, the reason why there have been no refineries built is because no one has asked to build one! Since 1975, there has been ONE count them 1 permit submitted to the EPA for permission to build a refinery and permission was granted! So, they haven't applied for permits. They can't bitch that they can't due to restrictions, they haven't applied or asked to build any refineries.The one they did get, was approved!!!!!!! All they have to do is ask. 

The fact is that this governement and big oil would rather have prices where they are so they are happy with the status quo.

The fact still remains, that even if they get any major field online, which Bush was quoted in the paper as saying that there could be 18 billion barrels, sounds like a lot, but 18 billion barrels at our current consumption of 20 million barrels a day, is about a years worth of oil for our country and that is assuming it came out of the ground that fast.

Realistically they keep throwing different figures around, Ive heard 18 billion, I have heard a trillion which would only be about 20 years worth, which would give us some room but again, unless that comes out of the ground in 20 million barrel a day increments, we need imported oil.

So, no matter what comes of this drill or not to drill, A) our government and big oil are lying through their teeth and B) we still need to develop alternative fuel sources that are not oil or gas and C) we need to improve fuel standards/technology and our habits to increase conservation.