Student Opinion – Should We Be Drilling Oil In America?
With the significant rise in oil prices around the globe, Americans have found themselves wondering why the United States doesn’t drill its own oil.
According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, the United States has been the world’s largest oil and natural gas producer since 2018.
This past January, overall inflation reached the highest it has been in 40 years. Despite the fact that America has seen the spike in prices, it doesn’t seem like the government is making moves to become oil independent.
The Biden administration is trying to make deals with countries, like Saudi Arabia and Venezuela, to pump more oil, but President Biden does believe the U.S. oil producers can increase production. Decreasing the pain at the pump is easier said than done, and drilling for more oil is not as simple as turning a spigot, watching a never-ending supply flow.
The first major issue that the U.S. oil crisis faces is supply chains.
According to NPR, “U.S. crude production currently stands at 11.6 million barrels per day, according to the latest data from U.S. Energy Information Administration. That’s below March 2020 levels, when the country was producing 13 million barrels per day of crude oil.”
The production of oil has significantly dropped within the past couple of years, despite the fact that the U.S. is the world’s leading oil producer.
The second major issue is world conflict. With the Russian president invading Ukraine, according to American Progress, the global fossil fuel market has been turned upside down. Americanpress.org reports that President Biden has banned any oil, natural gas and coal imports from Russia to the United States as of March 8, 2022. The article also stated that “this ban could result in higher gas prices for American households and supply disruptions for our European allies.”
Putting world conflict and supply chain issues to the side, oil companies are also hesitant to produce more oil due to the decisions made by the Biden administration. According to quartz.com, the fossil fuel companies would not be able to function without the help of bank loans. Many companies have made a commitment to “decarbonize” their portfolios for the intention of better climate results in the future. However, money lending has increased, with $575 billion being distributed in just 2020 alone. Drilling and producing also emits more oil and methane into the atmosphere, creating a larger carbon footprint.
There is damage to the climate that must be taken into consideration. No new oil or gas projects should be put in motion that could change the overall global temperature. This has caused the Democrats in Congress and climate advocacy groups to offer up alternative sources for energy production, such as wind and solar power and electric vehicles.
Although oil companies have approved permits to drill more, they are not using them. In an article on bloomberg.com, it says that “…oil and gas companies held more than 9,000 approved-but-unused permits to drill in already-leased federal lands onshore as of Dec. 3, and the White House wants the industry to use them.” The reason as to why the companies don’t use the permits could likely be contributed to lack of funds.
So really, there are pros and cons to drilling oil in the U.S.
On one hand, the rise of inflation has made a significant dent in consumer wallets. People are feeling the effects of the rising prices in all areas of living. The U.S. does, as the Biden administration believes, have the means to drill and produce
more oil.
However, drilling more oil means pouring more money into the oil industry and potentially causing further damage to the environment. More money in the oil industry will also increase the overall inflation throughout the United States. Even if the U.S. were to produce more oil, it doesn’t mean the U.S. can become energy independent anytime soon.
Gambino is the web manager. Follow her on Twitter