On the recordMay 16, 2012
President Obama has often claimed that we have 2 percent of the world's proven oil reserves, which is nothing but an excuse for inaction when developing American- made energy. As The Washington Post's fact-checkers noted, the President's claim is ``true, but false.'' False because ``proven oil reserves'' is only one category of oil, a fraction of the overall oil in the ground. ``Proven reserves'' refers to amounts of oil where seismic studies have identified available resources. Due to the long Presidential and congressional bans on Outer Continental Shelf development, the inventory of resources has not been tracked in over 30 years. The U.S. Geological Survey and the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management estimate the U.S. has a 16 percent share of the world's undiscovered, technically recoverable, conventional oil resources. The Middle East also has a 16 percent share. Rather than saying what we can't do, the President should be doing more to facilitate the safe discovery and development of U.S. resources. Mr. Speaker, the President says he supports ``an all-of-the-above strategy for the 21st century that develops every source of American- made energy.'' The question now is whether he is willing to prove it. ____________________
