I am sure you do........

 

This is a post I agree with you on Allan. North America's problem though, is BP, Shell, Total, and Citgo are all foreign companies, and all are major producers on the North American continent. Their profit goes overseas...which hurts all three countries.

 

Keith....Valero is not a "True" Oil Company. It is a Refining and Marketing company, based in San Antonio. Valero does not produce any of its oil, it buys it all on the market.

The Mexican Oil company is PEMEX. Very big company with lot's of Gulf of Mexico production.

 

I think increasing our drilling domestically could lower prices. The main reason is because OPEC would like to keep prices below what it would cost us to become more self sufficient. I recall a few years ago when oil was around $25/barrel. The U.S. was talking about pulling oil from shale and the cost threshhold along with the cost of efficiently producing alternatives using ethanol, etc., Prices dropped just below the cost of producing these other alternatives and extracting from shale. This worked for several years. They would go beyond the threshhold and when the talk started prices ebbed just below that figure.

I do agree that much of the reasoning for drilling domestically has a lot to do with keeping money within North America. It is in our interests to keep our money closer to home. Canada and Mexico are two of our largest trading partners. It would be much better to keep that money within this hemisphere.

I also agree with Stan about ownership of most of the major oil companies being foreign owned. Prices escalated dramatically once these oil companies were allowed to merge with foreign oil companies. They don't have any loyalty to U.S. interests. Something so vital to U.S. security should not be controlled by foreign entities. Congress has been asleep at the wheel. They should never have allowed these companies to merge.

 

Imports of crude oil for 2007 per thousand barrels.

OPEC nations: 1,966,559
Non OPEC: 1,694,845

seems like that is a little more than "very little".

http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/dnav/pet/pe...im0_mbbl_a.htm

 

these are pretty interesting

 

Americans elected a oil man form an oil family that has close ties to some of the biggest players from the largest oil producing countries in the world are then upset because the oil companies get their way?

 

Show me any economic textbook that states that regulation increases volatility. You will find lots of studies purporting to show that increased regulation does not decrease volatility. I'll wager that virtually all of them were funded by organization seeking to profit from volatility.

I would love to see us totally deregulate all markets in the U.S. Wihin 3 years 2/3 of the people advocating such a course would be penniless and I would have moved to Canada.

I hear they have a ptretty sensible immigration policy up there.

 

They may be foreign companies, but there is a lot of Americans invested in these companies. You also have to consider these same companies re-invest their money in america, keeping the money here.

 

It depends on the type of regulation. Many people right now are pointing at regulations put in during the Clinton administration that forced banks to lend to people with less then perfect credit. I forget the name of the regulation.