OPINION:
Last week, OPEC oil increased to its highest price so far in 2011 - $111.72 per barrel - and few Americans knew it. Most media do not report this critically important foreign oil price. Instead, the media publish only the Wall Street speculators’ guess of oil price six months in the future.
Foreign oil imports increased from 3.29 billion barrels in 2009 to 3.34 billion barrels in 2010. That is an increase in foreign oil of more than 50 million barrels last year.
The price of U.S. oil is always cheaper than the price of OPEC oil. Last week, U.S. oil was $7.08 per barrel cheaper. Last year, biofuel production was only 9 percent of the amount of foreign oil; however, biofuel can never catch up because of the limited amount of U.S. cropland. What’s more, it is not “clean,” as advertised. Using ethanol in a vehicle emits more carbon dioxide into the air than using gasoline.
The United States needs to increase tax revenue, create jobs and lower the price of gasoline - and all this can be done by drilling here.
SELDON B. GRAHAM JR.
Austin, Texas
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