Why doesn't the U.S use the oil we have stored here-300 years worth?

Question

Why is it that we just store it and not use it? And there is enough for 300 years whats the wait?

Answer 1

The oil company's could not make their record profits if that happened. Remember, Bush is an oil man and will do what is best for big oil. Clinton released some of the oil reserves when gas prices soared during his Presidency.

Answer 2

300 years? I don't THINK so. The SPR (strageic petroleum reserve), which can hold a billion barrels, when topped off, represents roughly 2 month's worth. And so far, thetre are about 750 mllion barrels actually in there. And that's CRUDE oil -still needs to be refined. The idea is to get us through rough spots on account of military or political disruptions. The oil companies also borrow it from time to time when they have temporary disruptions of their own -and then they put it back.


Oddly enough, the US reserve didn't hit the 750 mil figure until late summer of 2005, believe it or not. And President Bush has recommended that capacity be DOUBLED.

A side note: oil companies who tap into US soil for the black gold pay a royalty for each barrel they pull out. And it is paid to -guess who- the US government. But lately, instead of paying with cash, they've been paying with the actual product -and THAT's what goes in the reserve.

But, you had to come up with that 300 number somewhere, and I'm betting you're talking about world-wide desposits of oil yet to be discovered and brought to the top. The 300 number is just a guess, but what is NOT a guess is that its getting more difficult and more expensive to find and tap whatever is left.

So, revise your 300 year figure to about 60 days -at best.

Answer 3

The US is not storing 300 years worth of oil. When this number is mentioned, it means in all forms of fossil fuels. We are talking heavy oil, extra heavy oil, and bitumen. Canada has the largest reserve of bitumen (800 billion cubic meters) while the US has significantly less (between 30 - 35 billion cubic meters). What the US does have over 50% of is shale deposits. It is estimated that 2.8 trillion US barrels of oil is contained in shale deposits throughout the world. The estimate is low since many of the deposits have not be sufficiently explored to make a more accurate estimate. Of this amount, the US has 1.5 trillion barrels. Next comes coal deposits, of which 22% of the world's total is here in the US. That works out to about 246 billion tons. If you get 1.25 barrels of oil per ton, that is a lot of oil. Adding all the resources together, it is estimated that there exists 300 years of recoverable fossil fuel reserves remaining for the entire world at current consumption levels.

Answer 4

We want to wait until all the oil in the Middle East and Russia are tapped out. The last country in the world to control the world's oil supply, will hold all the power.

That said, if we plan on eliminating our dependence oil-based cars, trucks, tractors and power plants in the next, 20, 30, 40 years, why wouldn't we tap into our reserves now - to give the consumer a break on gas prices. Well, the oil companies don't want to give us a break. They're making more money than ever right now and they don't want that to stop any time soon. They have one of the strongest lobbies in Washington, so unless we elect someone who could care less about lobbiest, like Ron Paul, we're going to be paying $5 per gallon before long (I paid $3.50 yesterday in San Diego).

Answer 5

I like that libs can just dis-believe the facts. Unfortunately this "stored" oil is not really stored, it's still in the ground. Take the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge for example. It's the size of most U.S. States! There may be more than 20 years of oil there but the few acres that would need to be developed to harvest this easy access high quality "sweet" crude are held back by some kind of environmentalist hysteria.

Answer 6

300 years worth? Where the heck did you come up with that number? There might be 300 years worth of oil left in the whole world, maybe. There is no way the US has that much stored up.

Answer 7

That would only add to the problem of ignoring we are too dependent on oil and need to find alternative energy's to run our transportation and industries. I bet the answer is going to be found by a farmer or someone working in their garage at home and not some brilliant scientist.

Answer 8

It's a reserve, to be used when there is no other way to get oil from foreign sources.

There is enough kept in reserve that it can be used to tide us over until we put our own fields into full operation.

It's a great idea and if our government had not planned on it, and put it into operation, we should have impeached and recalled all of them.

Answer 9

That is kind of hard to believe. If we had that kind of space to store oil you must be the only one to know about it. Please tell the people in Washington and maybe we can get out of Iraq. This world, as far as humans are concerned, will be long gone before that time.

Answer 10

Those are the Strategic Oil Reserves and generally not dipped into in case of a real emergency such as a full scale war with a country who can put up a real fight.

They still do tap into it every now and again, but not very often.

Answer 11

The answer for this question is so simple.
So when all the oil reserves around the world are empty then only the USA will have oil........ at that time the USA will be the gods of the new world just imagine they have the main energy supply.......................... it looks scary to me.!!!!!!