Before popping champagne corks and planning on cheaper fuel for the family gas-guzzler, some facts should be understood about the discovery of a huge new oil patch deep in the Gulf of Mexico.
The estimated 3 billion to 15 billion barrels would be devoured in between 150 and 748 days at the rate the United States consumes oil—20,030,000 barrels per day. And, It could be five years before any reaches the consumer market.
Meanwhile, the U.S. oil habit still requires importing 52 percent of daily needs from abroad, including from hostile anti-U.S. hot spots such as Iran.
Wisdom suggests that Congress should now impose new mileage standards on automobiles and trucks (principal consumers of oil) and quicken the search for alternative fuels.
A discovery of this magnitude would be a significant addition to the U.S. oil reserves of 29 billion barrels and a major rainy-day resource during a crisis.
Strategic reasons also demand long-range conservation. China is now the world's second-largest consumer of oil (6.4 million barrels per day) and the sixth largest importer (1.6 million barrels per day). Its hunger is growing. What if China convinces overseas suppliers to sell more to the Chinese than Americans?
Connect the dots: China holds the lion's share of America's debt and might siphon off foreign oil that Americans count on.
With or without the new discovery, the oil supply tally will still come up short. Conservation and the pursuit of alternatives to oil must proceed.
