MUST-READ from Juan Cole: John McCain's Oil Scam - "It's All A Big Lie"

[Hissyspit]

http://www.juancole.com/2008/06/john-mccains-oil-scam.html

Wednesday, June 18, 2008
John McCain's Oil Scam

McCain is arguing for offshore drilling to lower US petroleum prices in the "short term."

It is all a big lie, and a dangerous one at that. Our marine environment and our fisheries are already at risk. And the devastation in Wisconsin, Iowa and Mississipi from extreme weather events like flooding is where the US, and the world is going if McCain wins this argument. And McCain has the gall to say he is worried about global warming!

The world uses on the order of 86 million barrels a day of petroleum. That figure is expected to veer sharply upward as China and India go in for automobiles and trucking in a big way.

The United States uses nearly 21 million barrels a day of petroleum and liquified hydrocarbon fuel, or nearly 25% of everything the world produces daily. The US has 5% of the world's population.

The US produces about 5 million barrels a day of petroleum and another 3 million barrels a day of liquefied fuel. That 8 million barrels a day is only about a third of what we use, so we import the rest. The lower 48 states produced about 4.4 million barrels of petroleum a day in 2006.

If all the known offshore fields were drilled and panned out, the lower 48's oil production would be increased by 7%. That would be 300,000 barrels a day.



Millions of barrels of oil a day produced by US and by world, with McCain's proposed increase through offshore drilling.

0.3 million barrels a day would make very little difference whatsoever to current oil prices even if it could be brought online right now. It would be a matter of a few pennies. And, in fact, if there were to be any impact of all of offshore drilling on prices, it would not come until 2020 or even 2030. You will note that the Saudis just offered to increase their production by 0.5 million barrels a day, and the oil futures market just yawned. And that is in the real world, right now, not in some decade or two-decades-out in the future drilling scheme.

Moreover, US consumption of petroleum is increasing over time, so the extra 300,000 barrels a day would quickly be used up and then some.

McCain is cynically wooing Big Oil in Texas in order to get campaign contributions, while lying to the American people about his offshore drilling plan having a quick impact on oil prices and their quality of life. Bringing the 300,000 barrels a day on line would make somebody a lot of money. It will do us no good with regard to energy prices, and in fact will harm our standard of living because drilling for the oil will endanger beaches and the environment more generally, and burning that extra oil will accelerate climate change.

An informed reader writes, "We can save more than 300,000 barrels a day by everyone in the US using just one sixth of a gallon less a day. The US did it in WW2, why not in the War on Oil?"

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[Doctor_J]

1. Professor Cole - you're not allowed to use the word lie when discussing GOP lies.

Please change the title of your article to "...all a big false assertion", or "...all a big exaggeration".

[kimmerspixelated]

2. Thanks for this.

Yep, when it comes to oil, and everything in the news these days, it's always about money in someone else's pockets and the widening holes in our own!!!!

[enough]

3. k&r

[Hissyspit]

.

[Hissyspit]

4. .

[Binka]

5. K & R

[JustAnotherGen]

6. Okay

So how is big oil going to refine 'all that oil'?

K/R

[barack the house]

7. Randi says it all supply is fine they are not queuing miles for gas, it's speculators and gouging.

[populistdriven]

8. If you Digg - Please go here and digg it:

http://digg.com/2008_us_elections/McCain_s_Oil_Scam

[Hissyspit]

9. Thanks. Done. n/t

[Douglas Carpenter]

10. Kick and recommended