Increase Domestic Production

The United States currently imports, on average, over 10 million barrels of oil and 11 billion cubic feet of natural gas at a current cost of nearly $1.5 billion each and every day. Yet, we have estimated deposits of over 10 billion barrels of oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR), an estimated 86 billion barrels of oil and 420 trillion cubic feet of natural gas offshore along the coasts and in the Gulf of Mexico, and between 1.5 and 2.6 trillion barrels of recoverable oil in shale deposits in the Rocky Mountains; all of which have all been effectively placed off-limits for development.

Environmentally sensitive development of America's abundant oil and natural gas resources on federal lands and in federal waters is mandatory and any policies, regulations, or legislation stopping, limiting, or impeding that effort must be changed.

Our objective must be to replace all imported oil and natural gas in the next 10 - 12 years and the majority of that will have to come from increased production of domestic oil and natural gas reserves.  Some, hopefully quickly growing, portion of it will come from the other initiatives in this plan, but oil and natural gas exploration and production must proceed at a pace that would replace all imports to make sure our ultimate goal of complete energy independence is met.  Once we do reach the crossover point, any excess capacity we end up with can be exported to reduce our trade deficit or the wells can be capped.  The required changes include but are not limited to:

Open coastal waters for oil and gas drilling
The environmental and safety record of offshore drilling no longer supports the restrictions that have been imposed on it and they should be removed.  The coastal states should be allowed to decide if they want to allow drilling within 50 miles of their shore, but there should be no restrictions beyond 50 miles.  A portion of the lease revenues and royalties should be used as an incentive for coastal states to allow exploration and drilling within 50 miles.  This applies to all of the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) and the Gulf of Mexico.

Open ANWR for oil and gas drilling
Drilling in ANWR is necessary; we know exactly where the oil is, we can begin producing it quickly, and we are only talking about less than 2,000 acres out of nearly 20 million.  Alaska supports developing the ANWR oil and natural gas deposits, it can be accomplished with absolutely minimal environmental impact, and the site can easily be returned to it's natural state after the oil and natural gas have been extracted.

Develop oil shale resources
The production of oil and fuel from America's massive oil shale deposits is mandatory.  We cannot meet our goals without developing this resource in which the amount of recoverable oil dwarfs all of the OPEC countries proved reserves combined.  It is incomprehensible that we have restricted the development of this huge natural asset, which can be exploited in an environmentally sound manner, while at the same time paying exorbitant prices for imported oil.  We should be extracting as much oil as possible from this nearly inexhaustible supply until such time as alternative energy sources are on-line to take its place.

Open any other areas that may have restrictions or impediments
There are undoubtedly other bans, restrictions, or impediments that exist on specific locations or specific resources that have not been explicitly identified here that should also be lifted.

Support Advanced Oil Recovery Techniques
Research and development of advanced oil recovery methods could provide for the recovery of over 200 billion barrels of oil that are considered stranded in existing wells or are heavy oils and oil sands which are difficult to extract.  Current EOR techniques, such as injecting CO2 into oil wells to increase production, should be able to recover over 10% of that total.  Advanced techniques could significantly expand that percentage to as much as 50% or higher.  Production credits for oil extracted using advanced techniques should be used to promote industry funded research and development.

Streamline the permitting process
The time from lease signing to actual exploration and then to production takes entirely too long and is fraught with delays and challenges from environmentalists and other special interests.  We must remove the bureaucratic red tape, expedite permitting decisions, and limit the ability of opponents to block or delay activities before and after the permits have been approved.

Expedite exploration and drilling
Limit initial lease terms to 3 - 5 years and provide incentives, such as minimal first year lease cost, as well as rapidly increasing penalties, to ensure leaseholders quickly determine the commercial potential of their leases after they have been granted the appropriate permits.  Concerns over windfall profits can be handled by implementing royalties scaled to market price minus production cost in the leases.

Drilling rig equipment manufacturers and other companies with related products and services may need assistance to ensure that they can quickly ramp up production to help get more oil out of the ground as quickly as possible.  If requested, loan guarantees or other such assistance as may be required to help them rapidly expand their production lines would be appropriate.