The USA has plenty of oil....we've been saving it.

In Calif we have enough oil supplies. What the oil companies have done is cause a shortage of refineries so that every time one has a minor problem the price goes up. and since the state has mandated a special fuel formulation for Calif the oil companies can not import fuel from other states.

Even Reno Nevada sells gas refined in Calif for less then its sold in Calif and its trucked over the Sierras

Environmentalists and taxes are the reason for high gas prices.

Boutique fuels: Unique gasoline blends required for a specific region or metropolitan area of the U.S. Prior to 1990, six types of gasoline were sold in the U.S. Today, there are approximately 20 unique gasoline formulations manufactured for, and sold within, specific markets throughout the United States that are mandated by federal, state, and local governments. These "boutique" fuels are not interchangeable with fuel blends sold in other areas of the country. Federal law limits the number of boutique fuels authorized for use in the nation, but does not include state biofuel mandates in its definition of “boutique fuels.” Consequently, states have proceeded to require the use of certain biofuel products. These mandates pose similar challenges to the motor fuel supply and distribution system as other types of regulated “boutique fuels.”

Fungible: Interchangeable. The U.S. gasoline system was designed to facilitate the efficient flow of gasoline to all regions of the nation, allowing the same gasoline formulation to be sold in all markets. The system is no longer fungible, with approximately 20 unique gasoline formulations required in specific markets throughout the United States.

Taxes
The federal excise tax on gasoline is 18.4 cents per gallon and 24.4 cents per gallon for diesel fuel.

Motor gasoline taxes averaged 47.4 cents per gallon in January 2010, including the 18.4 cents per gallon in federal taxes. (Source: American Petroleum Institute)

Diesel fuel taxes averaged 52.0 cents per gallon in January 2010, from a high of 71.0 cents per gallon in Hawaii to a low of 32.4 cents per gallon in Alaska. (Source: American Petroleum Institute)

The states with the highest gasoline taxes, as of January 2010, are:

California (65.0 cents per gallon)
New York (63.0 cents per gallon)
Hawaii (62.8 cents per gallon)
The states with the lowest gasoline taxes, as of January 2010, are:

Alaska (26.4 cents per gallon)
Wyoming (32.4 cents per gallon)
New Jersey (32.9 cents per gallon)

www.nacsonline.com...

Hmmm, what is the one thing that high taxes, tree-huggers and donkeys have in common?

Originally posted by FreedomXisntXFree
Williston is like a gold rush town; they moved one of our 40 man camps down there since there are no rooms available.

I wouldn't be surprised. Oil companies will milk every last drop of oil out there.

The host said to Forbes, "I am going to ask you a direct question and I would like a direct answer;
how much oil does the U.S. have in the ground?" Forbes did not miss a beat, he said, "more than all the Middle East put together."

From your own source:

3 to 4.3 Billion Barrels of Technically Recoverable Oil Assessed in North Dakota and Montana’s Bakken Formation

The U.S consumes just over 18 million barrels of crude a day. Assuming that we will be able to recover all that crude oil, and assuming that all that crude will be going to domestic pumps (which I doubt), you're looking at [bb]one year, tops, to keep the United States completely energy independent. I'm not surprised there's a gold rush, there aren't that many crude oil reserves left in the United States.

The Bakken is the largest domestic oil discovery since Alaska's Prudhoe Bay, andhas the potential to eliminate all American dependence on foreign oil. The Energy Information Administration (EIA) estimates it at 503 billion barrels.

This is from a chain email, and it has been debunked. The estimated barrels of crude in the area is not 503 billion, it's maximum, 5 billion barrels:
www.factcheck.org...

Why do people keep on bringing up this misinformation?

reply to post by Southern Guardian


You're right I did get this from chain mail

I posted this because I had enough confidence in the ATS community to debunk it. Happy to see people care about misinformation enough to do the leg work and research. This is why I like ATS

I'd would also like to add that in this instance I was just too lazy to research it myself so I figured the good people at ATS probably were already familiar with this. I will say this is still a rather interesting subject.

But this brings another question into play. Average Americans who do NO RESEARCH believe all the chain mails they get.


Thanks for all the posts!

reply to post by Southern Guardian



You were doing so good until you had to say that "it's maximum, 5 billion" part.

nobody knows yet how much "recoverable" oil is there, nobody...because the tech keeps improving...they keep finding more pay zones.....they haven't finished their reassessment of their "best guess" yet either....
...just leave out the 5 billion and you were fine.

Originally posted by Res Ipsa
I find this thread very informative
thank you for taking the time to do this research.

edit on 20-5-2012 by Res Ipsa because: (no reason given)

This sarcasm has bit me in the butt.......it makes me look like a complete newb.

reply to post by Perhaps


Here is something else to consider regarding the validity of the cited oil barrel reserves.

According to a DRAFT study first authored originally by Dr Price, a USGS organic geochemist, in 2000 he came up with the 503 billion barrel estimate. The draft study was never completed and since it wasn't peer reviewed, meaning internally validated by the very same USGS, it was never accepted nor published. There are other factual problems with this draft study shown in the link. schutt.org... However, it appears that didn't stop the internet 'hypesters'. This link is particularly helpful in going through the allegations made in the below email point by point. Here's another to consider. Scroll past the Palin info to get to the material of interest. dailymull.com... Finally, there's the old stand by, www.snopes.com... Note the reiteration of the same alleged information in all these links.

Here's a site having good data to put this in better perspective, including Dr Price's study. www.squidoo.com...

ATS is in good company. There is quite a bit out there on the net seemingly also attesting to this information's validity. Here are only a couple sources. www.truthorfiction.com...-d7I6wDHg and www.loybanks.com...

There's quite a bit of this same information Stansberry Research likes to cite. Here are links questioning that source's credibility for what it's worth.

en.wikipedia.org...
dailycaller.com...
briandeer.com...
reviewopedia.com...
www.scam.com...
hillbuzz.org...

Respectfully submitted