Would Drilling ANWR Make A Significant Difference to Future Oil Imports?
Roger Blanchard has sent in a report: President Bush, administrative representatives and some congressional representatives have expended considerable effort in attempting to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) to oil and gas development, ostensibly to reduce U.S. oil imports. Oil imports into the U.S. are significant. This year U.S. oil* imports will average ~11.0 million barrels/day (mb/d). To place 11.0 m b/d in perspective, no other country consumes as much as 6 mb/d. Quantitatively, how would oil production from ANWR affect future U.S. oil imports? According to the U.S. Country Analysis Brief at the U.S. DOE/EIA website, ANWR could produce 1.0-1.35 mb/d at peak production. That range is based upon a mean technically recoverable amount of oil of 10.3 billion barrels. I would expect the economically recoverable amount of oil to be less, and possibly considerably less, but Ill use 1.3 mb/d for the analysis. Ill assume that production would start in 2010 and reach peak pro
