They have 26 million acres of federal lands currently with active leases. Most have yet to be drilled. And this 26 million acres basically amounts to almost all of the geologically promising oil reserves on federal lands. There are some remaining such as in Alaska but when those lease were offered 3 years ago, no companies bid because production costs are too high in the Arctic. Most of the best oil reserves in the largest oil reserves in the world (Permian basin) are in Texas where there are almost no federal lands. Some of the Permian basin is in New Mexico (about 1/3 each federal, private, state lands). Most of the NM lands already have federal and state leases but many areas have yet to be drilled.
Sorry to pick at you it is nothing personal, but, I am shocked at the obvious stuff people miss.
Of course there are under/un used leases. If you owned a oil company and were responsible for the welfare of thousands of employees:
New wells have a payoff period of years.
R&D money has a payback period of decades.
How much time and treasure would you invest in a product that your government has committed to eliminating the need for in ~20 years.
The death of the pipe line, the stopping of the federal lease auctions, etc. are not what is causing domestic production challenges. Those are the indicators that you are a target for being put on an ice flow. Old technology, legacy, even dangerous to your people.
This country has had extraordinary success. In modern times a ton of that success is due to cheap energy and freedom of movement.
I have plenty of friends that live in a large metro, many no longer own a car. They save a ton of money, reduce the risk of being in an accident, rest on the way to and from work. I don't know why, but, not one of them are concerned about what will happen when the people that control the trains and buses no longer want them to go where they want to go.
If we don't understand the motives of those in power, we will believe gas is high because of a virus, or because of a war. By the time a voting majority figure it out, it is unrecoverable.
We can learn from our friends in the Ukraine, certainly the simplest way to avoid war or fighting is to surrender, and let someone else tell you what is good for you. If you value your freedom, sometimes you have to stand for it.
I give my kids 2 pieces of advice (and a bunch of other crap they can't use). Always try to see issues from one step up. Follow the money. If you do those things, you will eventually understand why things are the way they are.
Best,
ed
