Quit Repeating Nonsensical Oil Statistics!
David Kreutzer /
“I give out this statistic all the time, and forgive me for repeating it again: America holds about 2 percent of the world’s proven oil reserves.” – President Barack Obama, March 30, 2011
It would be easier to forgive the President’s repetition if it the way he used it made any sense at all. Here is his explanation of why it matters:
What that means is, is that even if we drilled every drop of oil out of every single one of the reserves that we possess—offshore and onshore—it still wouldn’t be enough to meet our long-term needs. We consume about 25 percent of the world’s oil. We only have 2 percent of the reserves. Even if we doubled U.S. oil production, we’re still really short.
The key here is that the President’s favorite statistic refers to oil reserves, not oil production. (more…)