FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

OIL EXPERT SAYS AMERICA MIGHT HAVE FAR MORE OIL THAN WE REALIZE

John Hofmeister Says That Probable Reserves in the United States Could Be in the Billions

President Obama announced on March 31st, 2010 that America has just made “the largest investment in clean energy in our nation’s history. It’s an investment that’s expected to create or save more than 700,000 jobs across America . . .”. There are different methods in the President’s energy-producing plan, not just drilling for oil and natural gas. But the President revealed that his administration will be expanding the nation’s offshore oil and natural gas exploration. The President assured the nation that, “we’ll employ new technologies that reduce the impact of oil exploration. We’ll protect areas that are vital to tourism, the environment, and our national security.”

Offshore drilling is just one component of the plan to help create more clean energy, stating the American economy will be better off in the long run when the nation becomes more energy efficient. He further stated the military is beginning to develop vehicles that run on hybrid fuels.

John Hofmeister, the former President of Shell Oil and CEO of the group Citizens for Affordable Energy, has stated that President Obama’s plan for offshore drilling may be a good thing for the nation but more scientific analysis of potential sites are needed. Citing the drilling restriction on much of the outer continental shelf, he said the industry has been prohibited for thirty years from exploring just how much oil the United States may actually have. However, stating the difference between proven oil reserves and probable reserves, Hofmeister said, “Probable reserves are in the hundreds of billions . . . of barrels in [the] United States of America . . .We’re sending a mis-signal to the American people about how much oil we actually have.”

Hofmeister states that there is no steady policy on offshore drilling, and the fact that policy changes every few years disrupt the years-long process of building up a system to produce major energy sources. Hofmeister said, “My main interest these days is the affordability of energy . . . and the only way to get affordability assured in the energy space is to produce more energy.”

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