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Here's a good article about the silliness of oil independence.
Urban Myth
Urban Myth
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“Oil is a commodity that moves around the globe. It does not matter where the U.S. or any other country gets its oil,” Kaufmann said. “Producing oil in the U.S. is, in and of itself, not necessarily a good thing. An economy that is totally self-sufficient is not necessarily efficient. North Korea and Albania [during its communist era] prove that.”
As it happens, the United States gets most of its oil from Saudi Arabia and Venezuela – unstable countries that are often hostile to U.S. interests. So what if the U.S. were somehow able to purchase all of its oil from more friendly suppliers?
“Say we got all of our oil from Canada or Mexico. Well, the Mexicans and the Canadians, as much as they love us, are not going to sell us oil for any less than what they can get on the world oil market,” Kaufmann said. “Just because the U.S. gets oil from a relatively stable country does not make it any less vulnerable to oil disruptions than if we got all of our oil from the Saudis or any other unstable country.”
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Drilling the Alaskan arctic
Some claim that drilling the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) will make the U.S. energy independent and solve its energy problems
This is also a fallacy, Kaufmann said. Since the oil market is a global market, the oil extracted from the ANWR would be sold on the world market, not reserved only for U.S. consumers and sold at below-market prices.
“We are in a global marketplace, so no one is going to sell us oil for $10 a barrel when they can get it for $40 on the world market,” Kaufmann said.
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“Let’s not argue about U.S. Energy independence. The real show is about the pipeline,” Kaufmann said.
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Controlling the market
At any point in time, there is a limited amount of oil that any country or company can produce, Kaufmann said.
Does OPEC still have the power? Yes, Kaufmann said, but it has lost ground because none of the OPEC countries have spare production capacity. OPEC cannot substantially increase production and therefore cannot control the marginal supply. Current prices will therefore remain high until production capacity can be increased
“I don’t think OPEC wants prices this high, but it is powerless to bring them down because they have no more capacity. They couldn’t produce more oil even if they wanted to,” Kaufmann said. “Prices will remain high until OPEC or some other organization can generate more capacity to affect demand.”
“Oil is a commodity that moves around the globe. It does not matter where the U.S. or any other country gets its oil,” Kaufmann said. “Producing oil in the U.S. is, in and of itself, not necessarily a good thing. An economy that is totally self-sufficient is not necessarily efficient. North Korea and Albania [during its communist era] prove that.”
As it happens, the United States gets most of its oil from Saudi Arabia and Venezuela – unstable countries that are often hostile to U.S. interests. So what if the U.S. were somehow able to purchase all of its oil from more friendly suppliers?
“Say we got all of our oil from Canada or Mexico. Well, the Mexicans and the Canadians, as much as they love us, are not going to sell us oil for any less than what they can get on the world oil market,” Kaufmann said. “Just because the U.S. gets oil from a relatively stable country does not make it any less vulnerable to oil disruptions than if we got all of our oil from the Saudis or any other unstable country.”
...
Drilling the Alaskan arctic
Some claim that drilling the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) will make the U.S. energy independent and solve its energy problems
This is also a fallacy, Kaufmann said. Since the oil market is a global market, the oil extracted from the ANWR would be sold on the world market, not reserved only for U.S. consumers and sold at below-market prices.
“We are in a global marketplace, so no one is going to sell us oil for $10 a barrel when they can get it for $40 on the world market,” Kaufmann said.
...
“Let’s not argue about U.S. Energy independence. The real show is about the pipeline,” Kaufmann said.
...
Controlling the market
At any point in time, there is a limited amount of oil that any country or company can produce, Kaufmann said.
Does OPEC still have the power? Yes, Kaufmann said, but it has lost ground because none of the OPEC countries have spare production capacity. OPEC cannot substantially increase production and therefore cannot control the marginal supply. Current prices will therefore remain high until production capacity can be increased
“I don’t think OPEC wants prices this high, but it is powerless to bring them down because they have no more capacity. They couldn’t produce more oil even if they wanted to,” Kaufmann said. “Prices will remain high until OPEC or some other organization can generate more capacity to affect demand.”
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