Oil Import Soar As Obama Halts Domestic Exploration

Perhaps that should read that Oil Imports Soar BECAUSE Obama Halts Domestic Exploration.

President Obama sent a letter to Congress earlier this week urging them to “eliminate unwarranted tax breaks for the oil and gas industry, and to use those dollars to invest in clean energy to reduce our dependence on foreign oil.” Let’s leave aside for a second the fact that even after 30 years of subsidies, clean energy energy accounts for just over 1% of all U.S. energy production. If Obama really wanted to reduce our dependence on foreign oil tomorrow he could end his Gulf of Mexico permitorium on offshore drilling.

Here are the facts: According to projections made by the Energy Information Administration in April 2010, the Gulf of Mexico should have produced 1.84 million barrels of oil a day in the fourth quarter of 2010. Instead, according to the most recent EIA estimate, due to the Obama permitorium, the Gulf only produced 1.59 million barrels. That is 250,000 barrels a day in lost production. Overall, since Obama instituted his drilling moratorium, oil production from the Gulf is down more than 10%.

Read more at the Washington Examiner: http://washingtonexaminer.com/blogs/beltway-confidential/2011/04/oil-imports-spike-obama-oil-ban-decreases-domestic-production#ixzz1Kozj2bD3