Congressional Report: The Truth About America’s Energy

[Phred42]

You do realize that this is ENRON all over again - right?

This download is the official majority report from the House - in PDF format.

Here are a few of the points - here are many more and some great graphs

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The Truth About America’s Energy:
Big Oil Stockpiles Supplies and Pockets Profits
A Special Report by the Committee on Natural Resources
Majority Staff
June 2008

http://resourcescommittee.house.gov/images/stories/Documents/truth_about_americas_energy.pdf

Introduction

While the oil industry and some Members of Congress argue that
opening more federal lands and waters would lead to lower gasoline prices,
the facts prove otherwise. The fact is that the Nation simply cannot drill its
way to lower prices at the pump. Other options, from greater energy
efficiencies to the development of alternative fuels, are essential to reducing
dependency on petroleum fuels and lowering fuel costs.

Increased Domestic Drilling Activity Has Not Led To Lower Gasoline Prices
Since the 1990s, the federal government has consistently encouraged
the development of its oil and gas resources and the amount of drilling on
federal lands has steadily increased during this time.

- The number of drilling permits going from 3,802 five years ago to 7,561 in 2007.
- Between 1999 and 2007, the number of drilling permits issued increased by more than 361%,

In the last four years,

- the Bureau of Land Management has issued 28,776 permits to drill on public land;
- yet, in that same time, 18,954 wells were actually drilled.
- That means that companies have stockpiled nearly 10,000 extra permits to drill that they are not using to increase domestic
production.
- 47.5 million acres of on-shore federal lands are currently being leased by oil and gas companies, only about 13 million
acres are actually in production@, or producing oil and gas

- offshore lands: only 10.5 million of the 44 million leased acres are currently producing oil or gas.
- Combined, oil and gas companies hold leases to nearly 68 million acres of federal land and waters that they are not producing oil
and gas

[uponit7771]

1. Yes and Bush's CFTC is helping them buy taking their hands off "the market"