Cutting our reliance on oil from unstable regions is a good idea if not a necessity. But that crude won’t be replaced by algae or biofuel.
To be more independent, we need to go to the well one more time — back to Texas.
The Lone Star State is not a favorite of the environmentalists and their political-media allies. But it has long been a rich source of oil that drives our economy.
While other states — particularly North Dakota and Alaska — have become more newsworthy for their oil production, Texas wells aren’t yet dry.
The Eagle Ford shale formation, a 400-mile-long, 50-mile-wide, crescent-shaped field in the south central part of the state, is still brimming with crude.
By the end of the year, Eagle Ford will be producing 500,000 barrels of oil a day. (The U.S. consumes about 19 million barrels a day, total.) Valero Energy Corp. CEO Bill Klesse told Bloomberg News last week that production might double in the next few years.
Because the crude from Eagle Ford is thin, low in sulfur and easily refined, it has the potential to replace similar oil we import from nations where the supply might be stable but the politics always on the edge.
