Jay Yoo

Well, this comes as no surprise:

Nearly all the likely 2012 GOP presidential candidates, including former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, have seized on rising gas prices to take shots at Mr. Obama’s offshore drilling policies.

via The Wall Street Journal

I simply cannot believe this and it is flat out, factually not true.  Like the Iraq War, the GOP seems to be preying on the ignorance and fears of people in a rather big way here.

Here we go.

Even if we drilled, explored and produced as many new offshore oil and gas wells since Obama took office in 2008, it would not even dent the relatively small amount  of crude oil we get from offshore wells (only 15% of US consumption). In fact, it is physically impossible for us to have realized any dramatic increase in crude oil production to affect current gas prices and here is why:

1. It takes 2-3 years to conduct seismic geological studies and to actually drill for “wildcat” wells (new found oil and gas).
2. Only about 30% of wildcats actually can be produced (extract oil and gas). This is a fairly high failure rate to materially affect oil and gas supply to meet US consumption, which is the highest in the world.
3. With drilling rig utilization at 80%, we would need a lot more semi-submersibles (used for deepwater offshore, where all the big oil and gas fields are) to find enough oil and gas to really make a dent.   This is a pipe dream at many levels.  These rigs themselves take 3-4 years to build and cost around $300 million.  
4. Offshore production platforms take about 3-4 years to build and deploy for production and can cost $3 billion! 

Let’s see. So at the very best, it would take maybe 5 years before any new crude oil could flow to a refinery to be produced?  Obama has only been in office for 2.5 years?  How could Obama then be blamed for rising gas prices based on this reality?

Actually, the GOP claims get even more ridiculous:  To get gas, crude oil has to be refined and US refinery utilization is a 85%.  Furthermore, we have not built a new refinery since 1977!

Even if we had 2 or 3 times more oil flowing from US offshore wells it could not even be refined to offset gas prices.  There is no more capacity! 

Rising gas prices are a global problem based on speculation, over consumption and limited supply.  Even Exxon admitted in February that

for every 100 barrels it has pumped out of the earth over the past decade, it has replaced only 95.

We are all to blame for this and need to change how we live.  In addition, we desperately need to switch to new energy sources in order to become energy independent and restore quality of life for many Americans who now have to choose between food and gas.  

Blaming Obama’s offshore oil drilling, exploration and production policies for rising gas prices is severely shortsighted and horrifically myopic.  To me, the GOP’s support for big oil and their unwillingness to get on the renewable energy bandwagon is a threat to national security and your quality of life.