Wehrwolfen
Senior Member
- May 22, 2012
- 2,750
- 340
- 48
Empty Boast:
As we have noted before in our Issues & Insights pages, President Obama has taken credit for an energy boom he had nothing to do with. A government agency now confirms what many have known to be true.
The Congressional Research Service has released a report, "U.S. Crude Oil and Natural Gas Production in Federal and Non-Federal Areas," that corroborates what we've said.
"All of the increase (in oil and natural gas production) from FY2007 to FY2012 took place on non-federal lands, and the federal share of total U.S. crude oil production fell by about seven percentage points," writes Marc Humphries, the government specialist in energy policy who authored the report.
During this period, oil production on federal land fell from nearly 1.7 million barrels a day to 1.6 million. At the same time, the share of overall production on federal lands shriveled from 33% to 26%.
The difference is found in offshore production. Onshore production actually increased modestly from 2007 to 2012, but offshore dropped from 1.4 million barrels a day to 1.3 million.
The story is similar with gas. Production on federal land decreased from 5.5 trillion cubic feet to 3.7 trillion cubic feet. The federal share collapsed from 27.8% to 15.5% of the total. In the case of gas, both onshore and offshore output on federal land have fallen, with offshore tumbling 50%.
Meanwhile, private output booms. Oil production on non-federal land grew from 3.4 million barrels a day to 4.6 million and gas rose from 14.4 trillion cubic feet to 20.2 trillion.
The good times won't go on forever, though, as long as Washington insists on a close-fisted energy policy. About 43% of all domestic crude reserves are on federal land. Roughly 28% of the gas is under the federal boot.
Humphries concludes, "A more efficient permitting process may be an added incentive for the industry to invest in developing federal resources, which may allow for some oil and gas to come onstream sooner."
But that bright outlook has a dark side.
"In general," he writes, "the regulatory framework for developing resources on federal lands will likely remain more involved and time-consuming than that on private land."
Read More:
Congressional Research Confirms: Obama Has Blocked Oil Production - Investors.com
