[Didn’t get a chance to ask Congressman Lampson a question tonight so I had to settle for an email message.]
I appreciate your taking feedback and questions during tonight’s telephone town hall.
Looking at US oil consumption figures for 2007 (courtesy of the DoE), current US oil consumption is estimated at over 20M barrels per day, of which over 50% is imported. Your sponsored legislation to release 70M barrels from the SPR amounts to less than a week’s worth of imports. Regarding drilling in Alaska, estimated peak production for ANWR ranges from 500-800 thousand barrels per day, with peak production projected to occur 20 years out. My concern is that both of these measures amount to a drop in the bucket when compared with our nation’s actual consumption.
When I crunch these projections against the current price of oil, I’m having a hard time seeing how lease royalties can even come close to the $2.6 trillion figure that is touted on your web site. The number I get is closer to $10 billion per year.