Maine news, sports, weather from Portland Press Herald / Maine Sunday Telegram, Portland, Maine

M.D. Harmon: U.S. oil, gas reserves surpass average OPEC nation

Yet, our own government won't let us use them and thus drives up the price we pay for everything.

Suppose that you built a new home out in the country, far from municipal services.

But when you tried to hire a contractor to drill a well, a town inspector came by to say wells were illegal in your community, so you had to meet your needs for water by going down to the store to buy it in bottles.

Of course, using bottled water to drink, wash, bathe and do dishes with is very expensive, and you found it was very difficult to keep enough on hand for all your daily needs.

So you called up your selectman to ask if the town would make an exception for you.

"No way!" was the reply. "That would despoil precious natural resources. That water belongs right where it is, underground, and it would be wrong for you to use it for your selfish needs to stay alive -- and clean."

So, you had to go on using bottled water other people produced, paying the bottlers with your hard-earned dollars -- even, let us imagine, after you found out some of them were owned by international criminal syndicates -- and were never allowed to take advantage of the resources that flowed abundantly right under your feet.

Sound ridiculous? Sure it does, but it also is a fair approximation of the current administration's attitude toward tapping our own extensive oil and natural gas resources.

Instead, our government prefers to make us buy them from foreign nations, some of which use the revenue to oppose us.

Of some interest in that context, the European news agency Reuters reported the following news on Feb. 16:

"The U.S. economy will lose $2.4 trillion over the next two decades if the federal government does not allow oil and natural gas drilling in restricted onshore lands and in offshore areas previously closed to energy companies, according to a new study released on Feb. 14."

The report, prepared for the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners, said "U.S. imports of crude oil, petroleum products and natural gas would increase by $1.6 trillion over the period without access to the energy resources."

Reuters said that U.S. payments to the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) would total $607 billion over that period for an extra 4.1 billion barrels of crude, according to the report.

Separate congressional and presidential bans on drilling in most U.S. waters beyond the western and central Gulf of Mexico ended in 2008, and the Interior Department is now considering whether to expand exploration in only a small part of the formerly closed areas, the news agency said.

"It's clear from this report that the status quo on energy production simply won't suffice," said David Parker, president of the American Gas Association. "We encourage lawmakers to heed the results of this study and take a closer look at the energy-rich areas in our country that are currently off limits."

Reuters said the study also raised the estimated U.S. oil and gas resources that are available in all areas based on advanced drilling technology and easier development of energy supplies trapped in shale rock. It reported that U.S. resources of crude oil were increased by 43 billion barrels to 229 billion and natural gas was raised by 286 trillion cubic feet to 2,034 trillion cubic feet.

By comparison, the United States imported about 143 million barrels of oil from Saudi Arabia in 2010, about 5 percent of our annual consumption, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

Domestic oil accounts for only 40 percent of our total usage, meaning that most of the money we spend on oil goes abroad.

In that context, consider that 229 billion barrels of domestic reserves is more oil than the average OPEC nation has.

Yet, like a homeowner who can only buy someone else's bottled water, we can't drill for what we have right under our feet.

So, when you notice the price of gas going up -- and it will, and nobody knows by how much -- remember that the last "OPEC oil crisis" ended when President Ronald Reagan announced that he was loosening restrictions on offshore oil drilling. Suddenly the price fell from more than $100 a barrel (in 1980s prices) to about $30, even before new drilling had commenced. Imagine what actually encouraging more drilling now would accomplish.

Actually, we don't have to imagine it. We just have to realize that the cost of transportation affects the price of almost everything we use.

Any material good we require that is shipped by freighter, truck or plane includes in its cost to us the price of the gasoline or other fuel used to transport it. In addition, many products are either petroleum-based or require petroleum products to produce them.

Because oil prices are set on the world market, a boost in the price of crude due to unrest in the Middle East affects them all -- and no one can escape the impact. However, we can minimize it by using the resources that we have in abundance.

Don't you think it's odd that the same people who say we need to "wean ourselves" from dependence on foreign oil are the same ones who are blocking us from doing so?

Of course, they say wind and solar power will meet our needs, but we don't use oil to generate electricity. We use it to create and move things, and no windmill or solar panel will affect that for decades to come.

The crisis is upon us, and it's far past the time to tell the government to get out of the way.

Unless, that is, you like paying foreigners for something you have in abundance -- but which ideologues won't let you use.

Thirsty yet? You will be.

M.D. Harmon is an editorial writer. He can be contacted at 791-6482 or at:

mharmon@mainetoday.com