The big question up before congress right now is whether or not to open up more areas of our country to the oil companies (offshore drilling and drilling in protected). The answer to this question should be easy for anyone who pays attention to how things actually work. The answer is an emphatic NO!

Why won’t it ease the pain at the pump? Well, one of the biggest reasons is the time it will take:

It takes a long time to extract oil under any conditions. First, oilers must drill one or more exploratory wells on the basis of their seismic data. Even if a rig is staffed at all hours, that doesn’t mean the drill is in continuous operation. The bit might turn for half of each day or less, depending on the hardness of the rock. Workers have to stop the drill periodically to run pipe down the hole. Every once in a while, a drill bit will wear out; replacing a bit can take more than a day.

A typical 10,000-to-20,000-foot oil well takes between one month and three months to excavate. Exploratory wells take even longer because petroleum engineers stop the drilling every once in a while to take a core sample for analysis. It might take eight months (more than two winters) to drill an exploratory well in ANWR and another couple of years to plan and build the infrastructure for more substantial drilling.

It’s hard to say how long it would take to get oil out of ANWR. Some experts say 10 years, but others suggest it might be done in half that time. It all depends on how the oil company decides to approach the site. They can start slow, with extensive surveys and exploration, or they can jump in at the most promising spot and hope it all works out for the best. http://www.slate.com/id/2130022/

It will take 5-10 years for the wells to start producing oil in sufficient quantities to make a dent in the 14 million barrels of oil we import everyday. Ok, so we wait 5 years right? Unfortunately, in 5 years the demand for oil from developing nations will likely outstrip any new capacity brought on-line. We would be back where we started.

But wait! Wouldn’t the new oil produced in the U.S. stay in the U.S. since it’s ours? No, why would it? The companies (Exxon, Chevron, etc.) producing these new oil wells will want to sell it to the highest bidder, not provide a guaranteed full tank for every American. They are in it for the money, as they should be. Thus, the oil will go on the world market and since demand is matching the new supply the price will be at best unchanged.

The real solution still lies in another energy source for our vehicles, be it hydrogen, cellulostic ethanol (corn ethanol is bogus), or battery powered cars attached to a new wind, solar, thermal and tide national power grid. Prolonging our dependence on oil only prolongs our pain. (I realize building these things will take time, but every time part of it is completed our need for oil would drop.)

Some would say converting to alternative energy costs too much, but it should be noted that Iceland is completely energy independent and is one of the top 10 richest countries in the world. This was all done by a country which does not have good natural resources and it lacks a dynamic economy like the U.S. Just imagine what the U.S. economy would do with energy independence.

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Update: I found a new source showing how negligible the “extra” drilling would be. http://www.eia.doe.gov/oiaf/aeo/otheranalysis/ongr.html