Don't Blame Big Oil for High Gas Prices

Great post by Mark Perry of Carpe Diem.

"From my editorial in today's Sacramento Bee:

The administration's moratorium on exploratory drilling in new offshore areas has locked away billions of barrels of oil. Oil production in Alaska, which has been in decline for decades, could be doubled by opening up the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and Arctic waters that are currently closed to drilling.

Combine these restrictions on drilling with instability in the Middle East and it's no wonder consumers are gritting their teeth at the price of gasoline. But we shouldn't blame oil companies for soaring prices, when they have nothing to do with the restrictions on domestic energy sources or the geopolitical events elsewhere that are the real culprits for higher gas prices.

Part of what lies behind soaring prices is turmoil in North Africa and the Middle East which has been spreading.

In 2009, the last year for which figures are available, the world consumed 11 percent more oil than a decade earlier.

According to the federal government, an estimated 67 percent of undiscovered oil resources are located on federal lands, a good part of which are off-limits to exploration and drilling."