[quote=babbling looney]

I hate to sound uncaring, but maybe it would have been better if the brave people on Flight 93 hadn't crashed in Pennsylvania and fulfilled its flight path, right into Congress and took out all of these useless bozos we have in office.   I'll let this comment speak for itself. But in 01 wasn't congress mostly republican?   Yeah.....so?  With any luck Lindsey Graham  and a whole bunch of other Republicans andn Democrats would have been at ground zero.  I would spare Zell Miller.   If it weren't for the internet and that I have a friend who works in the district office of my Rep we wouldn't know any of this.    If we were to see this bill (to expand drilling, exploration and refining) pass the market would pop up and oil futures prices would drop.   Babs, on what planet? The oil gain won't be realized for years, far beyond the exp date of any futures trading today.   That is absolutely not true.  There are oil wells that are known to be able to produce that were producing and were forced to be taken out of  capped and are just sitting there.  With the new technology we have today, we would be putting that oil on the world market in slightly over a year.   Babs, with all due respect, not enough to make a difference. The repubs are pushing the drilling button to have something to sell to frustrated consumers in an election year. The funny thing is, drilling won't help the consumer, it will help big oil. More oil, more profits. meanwhile the little guy is still getting screwed.   And the Swift Boat Vets were not a hoax. I know several of the boat Captians and others who served along with Kerry.  They are not liars.  Some are non political except for this and several are life time democrat voters.  It wasn't a partisan thing.   It was "Kerry is a lying scumbag who hung us out to dry thing".   Babs. I certainly can't speak against people you know personally. However, all of the Swift Boat Veterans For Truth have been discredited. Interestingly, once the election had passed, the wheel turned, and the truth came out. And noone defended them. Theire repub defenders were no where to be found. Poor SBVFT they were used and abused, much like the cheap whores they turned out to be. How about that Boone Pickens putting up 40 million of his own money to support them before the election and get their story out? Why do you think he did that?[/quote]

Babs, on what planet? The oil gain won't be realized for years, far beyond the exp date of any futures trading today.   That is absolutely not true.  There are oil wells that are known to be able to produce that were producing and were forced to be taken out of  capped and are just sitting there.  With the new technology we have today, we would be putting that oil on the world market in slightly over a year.   Babs, with all due respect, not enough to make a difference. The repubs are pushing the drilling button to have something to sell to frustrated consumers in an election year. The funny thing is, drilling won't help the consumer, it will help big oil. More oil, more profits. meanwhile the little guy is still getting screwed.   The oil that we KNOW is available can be put on the market in slightly more than a year.  Maybe not enough to make us energy independent, which is something I think can't be done or won't be possible for 20 to 30 years.  HOWEVER, the lie that it will be ten years and so we shouldn't bother, or whatever the newest bullshit excuse for not drilling in areas where there is proven oil is a lie and a diversion.     The Dems want to only allow drilling in areas that haven't been explored or that we know are not productive unlike the areas that have already been explored and are proven to have oil NOW.   I remember very well the 1970's oil embargo and the disaster for the economy then.  If we had actually begun a program of exploration and DEVELOPMENT of those discoveries THEN, we would be much better off now.  But....no...... we sit for 30 years with our thumbs up our butts and are forbidden by the eco-nazis and the liberal loons from doing anything...ANYTHING to develop our own resources.   Now they are again attempting to keep us from developing oil because it might be 10 years (magic pulled from the hat number) before yada yada yada.  Its like saying I want to lose 50 pounds and need to go on a diet but it will take a long time to lose that weight so screw it...I just won't diet.     It will make a difference in that the future expectation (in just a few years) of increased oil production will lower the prices.  Maybe not tomorrow at the pump, but the trading futures will come down.  We've seen it in just the last few weeks when Bush made his statement.  If we could get those worthless clowns in Congress and the House to try to find their asses with both hands, you would see an even further drop.   Should we develop wind, solar etc?  Of course, but we can't just cut off the existing source of energy until we have developed enough of the alternatives and have developed a delivery system.    As for drilling more oil in our own country I would think that you Bond Guy as a financial advisor would have some sense of why we might want to do this, but I'll put it in outline form for you. 1.  The revenues generated by that production will be for companies that are US. registered. 2. The profits of these companies are heavily heavily taxed and those revenues will create lots of lovely money to fund all your liberal feel good give away the farm programs. 3. The increased profits will do nothing but good for our client's portfolios and for the average Joe and Jill who largely hold mutual funds in their 401Ks and pension plans.   And while I'm irritated.  The (boo hoo) big profits that the media are always whining about for big nasty oil...... are about 8%     Pharama companies have profits in the 18 to 20% range.  Mabye we should slap them around for a while too?        http://www.taxfoundation.org/blog/show/23178.html   First Quarter 2008 Results (Millions of Dollars) Exxon Conoco Chevron Total Gross Sales  $    116,000  $     54,883  $     64,659  $    235,542 Income before tax  $     20,192  $       7,549  $       9,677  $     37,418 Income taxes   $       9,302  $       3,410  $       4,509  $     17,221 Sales-based taxes   $       8,432  n/a   n/a   $       8,432 All other taxes   $     11,607  $       5,155  $       5,443  $     22,205 Total taxes   $     29,341  $       8,565  $       9,952  $     47,858 Net Profits  $     10,890  $       4,139  $       5,168  $     20,197 Effective Income Tax Rate 46% 45% 47% 46%    The Dems want the companies to spend money to explore in areas that will be expensive and non productive, while known oil wells are capped and shale oil is not to be allowed to be developed.  All for what?   I'll tell you what.  They want the country and the people to suffer until they can get a Democrat in the White House and then they can suddenly become the heros and allow the spigots to turn on.  It's all about power.  Them grabbing and keeping it and the public and the economy be damned. Bunch of freaking hypocrites.    The government is the biggest beneficary of oil profits.  If they put a windfall tax, it will just raise prices and lower net profits at the expense of the consumer and at the expense of the stock holder and at the expense of all of our clients who own shares in mutual funds or who participate in public pension plans.    

Babs - recently watched a show with John Hoffmeister the recently retired President of Shell Oil in the U.S. and your points are quite valid. He advised that oil could be pumped very quickly from the California area ( offshore ) and within months , the Atlantic coast he suggested as I recall about 24-36 months. The Northern Frontier ( Alaska ) in the 24-36 month period AND he pointed out the infrastructure, the pipeline going through Alaska and Canada makes the project very visable.

He pointed out that in the long term that this gives time to push alternate energy ( which he supports ) but helps reduce the North American dependence on other nations ie. the Middle East and those other friendly nations. Your point is exactly on the money.....what is reasonable in terms of profits and your chart shows that very well. I do not ever recall any government deciding that ie. Technology Companies , Drug Companies were earning too much....so let's have a punitive tax applied to their profits. If their profits are in fact losses does that mean that the taxpayer should give them monies????

Talking about eco nazis; nice of you, living in a state with absolutely nothing to lose by drilling, fouling the water, and the air, to make such a judgement.

I live in New Jersey. And contrary to popular belief Jersey has the cleanest beaches and water in the country. I challenge you to go to any Jersey Beach at 9am on any summer morning and find so much as a gum wrapper. You won't find any trash. Why? because unlike Florida, the Carolina's, and most of the of the nation Jersey cleans every inch of its 127 mile coastline everyday. And, unlike most other states, they test the water quality every day. That's every beach, everyday.    You might ask why they do that? Well, as usual it's about money. Jersey's multi billion dollar tourist industry depends on it. It's also why you hear about trash, or medical waste on Jersey's beaches. To find it you've got to look for it. Jersey looks for it, most other states don't.   What big oil wants is to drill 10 to 60 miles off the coast of Jersey. As well they want to drill off the coasts of Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia. That accounts for over 400 miles of coastline. One accident anywhere on that stretch and the oil ends up on Jersey's beaches.   Additionally, reviving old plans from the seventies include building a pipeline from the rigs to an collection point just outside of Philly. The pipeline will pass through a National Reserve of undeveloped land that encompasses over 1/3 of Jersey's land mass. It's undeveloped because under it sits one of the world's largest underground fresh water supplies. It's pristine. Not the kinda place one would want to pollute.   So those you call eco-nazis have a different agenda. And its not political. Its called not shitting where you eat. Our bread and butter are those beaches. Its not Ok for you foul them just so you can save 2 cents a gallon on gas five years from now. That aquifer is our drinking water. We've worked hard to maintain it's purity. It's not Ok to pollute it just so some oil company can book more profits.

Bond Guy - I am not suggesting anything , I am asking a question. For clarification , please note Offshore drilling is done off the coast of Newfoundland. So your suggestion that Canada is not drilling offshore is incorrect.

All that being said , I am simply asking the question " alternate energy sources " a timeline and distribution for the product/s. BTW , the province of Prince Edward Island has a Windmill Project that is up and running and now some group/s want it shut down as it apparently is in the path of migratory birds. My point is how , when and where are the projects going to be placed? Also , you have never seen me post that is alright to pollute. I also know N.J. Coast well as family members have a summer Home in Sea Isle City.

Bond Guy, I live in California and with the new techologies that we have offshore drilling is extremely safe.  The last oil spill from drilling in Ca was in 1969.  Since then, a few things have changed.  

  So those you call eco-nazis have a different agenda. And its not political. Its called not shitting where you eat.   It's also called telling people how to live in areas that they have no intention of visiting , living or having any real interest in the people who live and work there.  For example.  This summer we have been under a continual blanket of smoke, choking smoke worse than any smog I remember from the late 1950's in Los Angeles.  Why??? Because the eco nazis refused and still refuse to let responsible forestry management practices like thinning out underbrush that has grown up in the last 50 years in forests where fires have been unnaturally suppressed. They have shut down and turned entire towns into ghost towns because some stupid owl, which is preyed upon by other owls, was declining.    Not necessarily because of forestry practices but because :   "Mortality in the wild is thought to be very high (60 to 95%) for juveniles, especially during the dispersal stage. Adult mortality is estimated at 5 to 20% annually. Natural predators of the Spotted Owl include the Great Horned Owl, which preys on both adults and young; the red-tailed hawk, which preys on young; and the common raven, which may destroy eggs. Many juveniles starve to death.
It is thought that Barred Owls will out-compete Spotted Owls for habitat, by being more aggressive, when the two species come into contact. "  The spotted owl is an inefficient dud of a bird and is going the natural way of many species.  Bye bye.
In addition to this "must not ever touch nature" attitude causing huge fires that have burnt up hundreds of thousands of acres of timberlands this year putting more carbon in the air  than all the cars in the world would for a generation,  they don't want to let anyone in to salvage what burnt timber there is and replant.  They would rather it rot and become bug infested and infect stands of good timber......all in the name of ....I don't know what.  Mother earth worship.  Heaven forbid we should actually manage the forest and let someone utilize the windfall of the burnt timber.   Meanwhile, a group is planning to put up on top of a visible mountain ridge about 50   480 foot tall windmills to generate 102 megawatts of energy.....when the wind actually blows. 

"The average American household uses about 9,000 kilowatts per year. 
102Mw roughly translates to 11 homes for a year. "

This is right in the middle of migratory bird flyways.  So for the sake of 11 homes we permanently build ginormous, as tall as a 50 story building, noisy, vista destroying, bird chopping machines.  I guess it's ok to chop up geese, hawks, bald eagles in the name of "green" power and  also fine to burn down millions of green renewable trees to save a spotted owl.   The inconsistancy makes my head want to explode.   The people who are building this are getting huge tax breaks and credits.  The people who are for it don't give a rip about the impact on our area, the wildlife or the destruction of our economy (which is basically tourism based).  They aren't shitting where they live.  They are shitting where I live.     This is why I couldn't care less about "green" energy, carbon credits or any of the other happy horseshit that the eco nuts come up with.   As far as I'm concerned Global Warming is a good thing.   Plants love it and its a heck of a lot easier to keep cool in the summer than to stay warm in the winter.  Bring it on.   In the mean time, while the latte sipping hemp wearing wanna be hippies are sitting on their redwood decks in San Francisco telling the rest of us how to live, what to eat, what to drive, how hot or cold my house should be and so on......our economy is becoming ever more unstable and subject to interuption at the whims of a few countries that could pull the rug right out from under us with the simple witholding of a portion of their oil supplies.   We have put ourselves in peril through stupidity and cow towing to special interst wack jobs.
Is so called "green" renewable energy a good idea. Alternative sources like solar and nuclear. Sure it is.  However, it is a long long long way off and isn't practical until we completely change our infrastrucure and delivery systems.  Until then, we need to increase the supply world wide and keep some of the income in our own country that is now going elsewhere.  

[quote=norway401]Bond Guy - I am not suggesting anything , I am asking a question. For clarification , please note Offshore drilling is done off the coast of Newfoundland. So your suggestion that Canada is not drilling offshore is incorrect.

All that being said , I am simply asking the question " alternate energy sources " a timeline and distribution for the product/s. BTW , the province of Prince Edward Island has a Windmill Project that is up and running and now some group/s want it shut down as it apparently is in the path of migratory birds. My point is how , when and where are the projects going to be placed? Also , you have never seen me post that is alright to pollute. I also know N.J. Coast well as family members have a summer Home in Sea Isle City.[/quote]   Where did i suggest Canada is not drilling offshore?   Sea Isle City? Corson's Inlet with it's great stripper fishing. Won't be so great with tar balls on the beach.   Migratory birds? About 20 miles south of Sea isle is Cape May NJ.  Cape may is recognized as the world capital of Birding. Migratory birds using the eastern flyway between Canada, the Artic and South America stop in Cape May. It's the great food that attracts them . Cape May has some fantastic restaurants!  

Bond Guy my error , when posting was reviewing your comment and you referred to a State to Babs , I thought you were referencing my post and I related to Offshore Drilling from the Province of Newfoundland.

If you or I had the solution we WOULD BE GETTING THE BIG BUCKS Given that the Chinese are chomping at " the bit " to start extracting Oil off the U.S. Coast , I feel frankly more comfortable with ie. U.S. Firms than having the Chinese involved. I think if a problem did happen they would simply give North America the " Up Yours " in a minute. If you get a chance.....read some of John Hoffmeister's comments. Interesting. Yes aware of Cape May.

[quote=babbling looney]Bond Guy, I live in California and with the new techologies that we have offshore drilling is extremely safe.  The last oil spill from drilling in Ca was in 1969.  Since then, a few things have changed.  

  So those you call eco-nazis have a different agenda. And its not political. Its called not shitting where you eat.   It's also called telling people how to live in areas that they have no intention of visiting , living or having any real interest in the people who live and work there.  For example.  This summer we have been under a continual blanket of smoke, choking smoke worse than any smog I remember from the late 1950's in Los Angeles.  Why??? Because the eco nazis refused and still refuse to let responsible forestry management practices like thinning out underbrush that has grown up in the last 50 years in forests where fires have been unnaturally suppressed. They have shut down and turned entire towns into ghost towns because some stupid owl, which is preyed upon by other owls, was declining.    Not necessarily because of forestry practices but because :   "Mortality in the wild is thought to be very high (60 to 95%) for juveniles, especially during the dispersal stage. Adult mortality is estimated at 5 to 20% annually. Natural predators of the Spotted Owl include the Great Horned Owl, which preys on both adults and young; the red-tailed hawk, which preys on young; and the common raven, which may destroy eggs. Many juveniles starve to death.
It is thought that Barred Owls will out-compete Spotted Owls for habitat, by being more aggressive, when the two species come into contact. "  The spotted owl is an inefficient dud of a bird and is going the natural way of many species.  Bye bye.
In addition to this "must not ever touch nature" attitude causing huge fires that have burnt up hundreds of thousands of acres of timberlands this year putting more carbon in the air  than all the cars in the world would for a generation,  they don't want to let anyone in to salvage what burnt timber there is and replant.  They would rather it rot and become bug infested and infect stands of good timber......all in the name of ....I don't know what.  Mother earth worship.  Heaven forbid we should actually manage the forest and let someone utilize the windfall of the burnt timber.   Meanwhile, a group is planning to put up on top of a visible mountain ridge about 50   480 foot tall windmills to generate 102 megawatts of energy.....when the wind actually blows. 

"The average American household uses about 9,000 kilowatts per year. 
102Mw roughly translates to 11 homes for a year. "

This is right in the middle of migratory bird flyways.  So for the sake of 11 homes we permanently build ginormous, as tall as a 50 story building, noisy, vista destroying, bird chopping machines.  I guess it's ok to chop up geese, hawks, bald eagles in the name of "green" power and  also fine to burn down millions of green renewable trees to save a spotted owl.   The inconsistancy makes my head want to explode.   The people who are building this are getting huge tax breaks and credits.  The people who are for it don't give a rip about the impact on our area, the wildlife or the destruction of our economy (which is basically tourism based).  They aren't shitting where they live.  They are shitting where I live.     This is why I couldn't care less about "green" energy, carbon credits or any of the other happy horseshit that the eco nuts come up with.   As far as I'm concerned Global Warming is a good thing.   Plants love it and its a heck of a lot easier to keep cool in the summer than to stay warm in the winter.  Bring it on.   In the mean time, while the latte sipping hemp wearing wanna be hippies are sitting on their redwood decks in San Francisco telling the rest of us how to live, what to eat, what to drive, how hot or cold my house should be and so on......our economy is becoming ever more unstable and subject to interuption at the whims of a few countries that could pull the rug right out from under us with the simple witholding of a portion of their oil supplies.   We have put ourselves in peril through stupidity and cow towing to special interst wack jobs.
Is so called "green" renewable energy a good idea. Alternative sources like solar and nuclear. Sure it is.  However, it is a long long long way off and isn't practical until we completely change our infrastrucure and delivery systems.  Until then, we need to increase the supply world wide and keep some of the income in our own country that is now going elsewhere.  [/quote]   Yeah, i hear you . I can't drive my jeep on some beaches because of the Plotting Plover. The plover, known in wildlife circles by its other name, dinner, is an endangered species. That's what happens when you build nests among fox dens and under Osprey roosts. The plover is a dumb little bird, but an important part of the food chain. It excels as lunch.   We also agree, we don't want uncaring outsiders screwing with our land and well being.   As for oil drilling being safe, I'm not buying that. Our region already is contributing to the country's enery production. The Philly port complex is the nation's second largest oil port. From that vantage point we know how unsafe dealing with oil can be.   The latest oil spill in the Delaware River took place in November of 2004 when a rust bucket single hulled poor excuse of a ship called the Athos ll hit a submerged anchor in the river. The resulting 115 mile long oil slick closed the river to all traffic for three days. It would have been longer but cold temps sank the oil. For months after every ship that entered or left the river had to be decontaminated. Only a third of the spill was recovered. That leaves 176,000 gallons of oil unaccounted for. A small amount of that is thought to have evaporated. And this in a very controlled environment, a river. The spilled killed wildlife, and closed the Salem Nuclear Power Plant 40 miles south. The fresh water intakes for much of the region were spared, not by man's efforts, but by nature's. We lucked out. And this was a minor spill.   The  epitaph to this story is the finger pointing that went on. No one wanted to own up causing the spill. Citgo pointed at the POS ship's owners. The ship owners pointed at the Coast Guard for not maintaining a clear channel. The Coast Guard pointed at Citgo for not maintaining a clean anchorage. Round and round it went and in some aspects still does. No one wants to pay the millions of dollars in clean up fees. And that anchor that caused the problem was dropped by an oil tanker whose owners get off scott free.   Walk along the banks just south of the accident site and you'll get tar all over your feet. And this is almost four years after the spill. Fishing is dead in the area as was clam fishing 60 miles south in the Delaware bay. For two years the horse shoe crabs were affected.   So when you say oil drilling is safe, well, we know better. Until it's completely fool proof we don't need it here.    

BondGuy …as an addendum to my post. I trust the Chinese Government with Offshore Drilling at the same level I trust them when it comes to their treatment of their own people.

Not a perfect world but at least with a Shell , Exxon , Gulf etc. there are ways to get them if problems should arise. Fool proof , not sure anything is fool proof.

[quote=norway401]BondGuy …as an addendum to my post. I trust the Chinese Government with Offshore Drilling at the same level I trust them when it comes to their treatment of their own people.

Not a perfect world but at least with a Shell , Exxon , Gulf etc. there are ways to get them if problems should arise. Fool proof , not sure anything is fool proof.[/quote]   There is no way to de-oil a beach. An incident off North Carolina puts the oil on our beaches. Same with Virginia, Maryland and Delaware. Once it's done, it's done. What misses us ends up on Long Island. It's not about money. Its not about accountablity. There is a fool proof way to avoid an oiled beach, don't drill for oil near one. Pretty simple huh?   I spent Sunday morning on my boat fishing Little Egg Inlet. The beach there, at the northern end of Brigantine Island is pristine. If I showed a pic noone would believe it's Jersey. Why risk that?   Why risk the world class fishery that Jersey's back bays are. That bull shark that grabs headlines by nipping a surfer in Florida was probably born here. As are the threshers, browns, blue fish, mullet and a host of others. And while strippers aren't born here many spend their formative years here.   Why risk the Chesapeke Bay? It's got enough problems with farm runoff.   Why risk the world class stripper fishing on Montauk?   By the way, it was a slow morning on "Pole Dancer." We caught a mixed bag of eight fish before severe thunderstorms chased us back to the marina. Last weekend, same spot, a four hour drift netted 20 fish including 16 fluke. That was a good day!

The latest oil spill in the Delaware River took place in November of 2004 when a rust bucket single hulled poor excuse of a ship called the Athos ll hit a submerged anchor in the river.

  Bond Guy you are talking apples and oranges.  The spillage from drilling versus the spillage from a creaky loaded tanker like the one you mentioned or even the Exxon Valdez spill which was caused by human incompetence.    Most, certainly not all, drilling is much safer now with new technologies and presents very little danger.  We had a train derail a few years ago and the diesel cars broke open and flooded a major river with diesel, killing all of the fish for miles down stream.  Terrible accident.  Should we ban all diesel because the tankers broke open in the river in a freak occurance?  Much of the oil spills in the recent past have been caused by weather.  

Despite the industry's technological improvements and safety planning, offshore operators have struggled to cope with the hurricanes that blow through the Gulf of Mexico. Seven of the 13 recent larger spills were hurricane-related.    Guess what?  No hurricanes in California 

  As to drilling off shore, it is happening now.  Just that WE are not doing it.   I would far rather have a responsible and accountable company like BP, Exxon, Chevron or other company that adheres to environmental rules and US laws be drilling than the Chinese....you know those folks who put melamine in pet food to poison our animals and who routinely put other poisons in their own food, air and water.   The people who are drilling now have zero concern about the environment and we know it.
The main issue is that we need to have increased supply and supply that we can depend upon now  and in the next 10 to 20 years while we are developing alternatives.     The other issue is that by producing more of our own supply with companies that are US based or who are responsive to US tax laws, we will be increasing revenues in the form of Federal and State and Local taxes from the production of oil supply and the creation of jobs for US citizen tax payers.   Instead of the revenue going overseas, to countries that are antagonistic to us, much more of it will stay here and further enhance our own economy.

Bond Guy - as mentioned before there are No Guarantees and I am not making light here , potential of situations arising with ANY and that includes Alternative options. As you recall , much has been made about Ethanol ( taking land out of food production to grow crops for fuel ) and the impact on Global food supplies.

I restate that I as a Canadian ( North American ) am NOT comfortable with the Chinese involved with drilling off the shores of North America. I also would suggest that they WILL NOT EMPLOY either Americans or Canadians in any part of their operations. Taxes well that is obvious...none for either country. I can  imagine the howling that will happen when we are purchasing our resources from the Chinese.

First, what chinese oil drilling? You don't mean the Cuba thing?

Next, not apples and oranges, more like oil and tar. Actually, there is only one factor, the human factor. Mistakes happen. Pipelines fail, rigs sink. And we do have hurricanes. As well as Noreasters that are just as violent and much more prevalent. These storms produce 60 foot waves in most of the lease area off our coast. And because it's shallow water it has a  short wave length. This is serious ship breaking stuff. You no doubt saw the movie Perfect Storm. The entire rescue by the coast guard was done off the coast of NJ. Forget the movie and check out the actual footage from the bridge of the cutter and from helicopters over the ship the next day. Scary stuff!

We don't want this. If you lived here you wouldn't want it either. It's very simple, no rigs equals no oil spills. It's 100% fool proof. Consider the Phiily Port Complex our contribution to the nation's energy program. It's a greater contribution than all but a few states. As I look out my window towards south Philly I can see the burners going.

And just so i understand, when it is said that offshore drilling will produce X in a certain number of years, who is it that prodcing those projections? Big oil? The politicians that support drilling? Can we trust those numbers?   I trust one thing. I trust that i am 100% right when i say who ever it is that is producing those numbers doesn't care about me or you. Nor do they care about the country. And they aren't feeling our pain and looking for solutions. They are manipulating a tired public for want of the one thing they do care about, money.   We are 300 million people. China has a billion more people than we do. If they consume at our level we'll need another planet to feed them and supply their energy needs.   As they move towards that end oil prices will move up as demand out strips supply. Any oil produced off our shore will go into that world supply pool and be priced accordingly. We won't get any breaks. We won't even get the oil. it doesn't work that way. We won't benefit. The oil companies will benefit. Thus the push to get off shore drilling going while the pain we're feeling creates the political will to get it done.   Honestly, anyone who thinks offshore drilling will benefit them at the pump is kidding themselves.