Increased Energy Access Through Expanded Domestic Supply
Domestic supply of oil and natural gas is crucial for maintaining American economic and national security strength during the transition to an electrified transportation sector.
According the Minerals Management Service (MMS), there are more than 40 billion barrels of Outer Continental Shelf oil that could be recovered using today’s technology off the Pacific, Atlantic and Alaskan coasts and in the Eastern Gulf of Mexico. That equates to 13 years of projected U.S. crude oil imports—exactly the kind of timeframe needed to ‘bridge’ the nation to electrification.
Advanced technologies and investments in infrastructure have dramatically reduced the timing for first production from new leases. For some deepwater leases, the time to first production from leasing has improved to four years.
In addition, offshore drilling has become remarkably safe, despite the recent spill in the Gulf. According to the Department of Interior, the domestic oil industry produced 10.2 billion barrels of oil between 1985 and 2007 with a spill rate of just .0006 percent. And by employing a range of new and emerging technologies—as nations such as Norway and the United Kingdom are already doing today—the industry is making steps to improve even on that strong record. It is, however, critical that safety and environmental standards are raised as the country pursues oil and natural gas.