Exxon Exec: "America will always rely on Foreign Oil

[-Cp]

HOUSTON (Reuters) - The United States will always rely on foreign imports of oil to feed its energy needs and should stop trying to become energy independent, a top Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM.N: Quote, Profile, Research) executive said on Tuesday.

"Realistically, it is simply not feasible in any time period relevant to our discussion today," Exxon Mobil Senior Vice President Stuart McGill said, referring to what he called the "misperception" that the United States can achieve energy independence.

The comments, in a speech at an energy conference in Houston, come a few days after U.S. President George W. Bush declared America was addicted to Middle Eastern oil and promised to help the country kick the habit.

Many in the United States believe America should wean itself off oil imports from the Middle East, fearing it makes the country dangerously dependent on an unstable region.

The world's largest publicly traded oil company, however, says hoping to end foreign oil imports is not only a bad idea, but also impossible.

"Americans depend upon imports to fill the gap," McGill said. "No combination of conservation measures, alternative energy sources and technological advances could realistically and economically provide a way to completely replace those imports in the short or medium term."

Instead of trying to achieve energy independence, importing nations like the U.S. should be promoting energy interdependence, McGill said.

"Because we are all contributing to and drawing from the same pool of oil, all nations -- exporting and importing -- are inextricably bound to one another in the energy marketplace," he said.



http://today.reuters.com/news/newsA..._RTRUKOC_0_US-ENERGY-EXXON.xml&archived=False

 

[Nuc]

Of course this doesn't take into account replacing oil with other sources of energy. Which is the last thing Exxon wants.

 

[shepherdboy]

I say if the world is going to call us as the old Roman Empire then I say we start acting like the Romans and take control of all the oil fields in the world. My big block Camaro needs the fuel.

 

[Mr.Conley]

3. US oil production continues to decline as it has for decades, producing less than 40% of our needs.

4. ANWAR will, at peak production capacity 15 years from now, produce 600,000 barrels per day. The US currently consumes 20 million barrels per day, a number that will likely only continue to rise.

11. The production of shale and tar sand oil is prohibitively costly and requires natural gas, a byproduct of oil, for production to be economically possible. The Alberta tar sands, the area generating the most interest and actual investment, will require 20-35 years to reach an estimated peak production of 10 million barrels per day, less than half or need and thats before factoring in Canada's own oil demands.

If there ever comes a day the United States of America is producing enough oil to meet its own demands, I'll eat my shoe.