Usa Oil Dependence

U.S. administrations, Zero oil imports has been an elusive goal – hitting the benchmark is often accompanied with promise and relief of security concerns surrounding the dependence amongst foreign oil sources. Accompanying the above thought there is also an economic benefit likely to be realized by the U.S. However, geopolitical and environmental concerns arise and create uncertainties which complicate progressive political decisions.

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Dependence on foreign oil sources will most likely be subdued as a result of technological advancement. Hydraulic fracturing, often referred to as fracking, has already made its headline from its enormous success in expanding our of natural gas supply – and is now allowing for huge shale oil reserves, previously unreachable, now accessible at prices marketable on the world oil market. Improvements in energy efficiency also continue to be a positive factor for these projections.

One implication that would hinder this from occurring is the anticipation of a “production-decline” event from what was once peak oil production. If this was to occur, we would obviously see U.S. dependence on foreign sources increase once again. However, favored predictions show the recent innovations in the field are more likely and will lead to heightened availability and supply of the sought after natural resource base.

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The direct and indirect gain from the increased supply will likely benefit employment and incomes as seen of recent; oil price drops increases consumer spending power, which directly translates to a boosts in alternate sectors of the market. A pervasive ripple effect is seen when there is an increase in supply of natural resources – when demand holds constant and or is heightened due to price attractiveness per unit of use, economic royalties, rents and tax revenue are realized. Although, it is unlikely an increase in U.S. production would have significant weight on the fluctuation in “world oil” prices, the newly liberated oil fields would still incrementally benefit global supply while benefitting consumers worldwide. Additional benefits for U.S. consumers would be attained through the decrease in transport costs associated with production.

As with all paradigm situations, there are uncertainties and precautionary thought that accompanies. Costly disruptions often occur with the development of additional natural resource frontiers – like those seen from the gold rush. To prevent, careful thought to development might enlighten and mitigate transitory conditions. Presently, Fort McMurry is experiencing this issue

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as well as North Dakota as result of the increased shale formation drilling and extraction. In addition, an increase in supply of now seen inexhaustible resource decreases the demand for new “energy exploration alternatives.” As a unit of