Interest in Arctic Oil Heating Up

You probably heard about the Russian sub that went to the Arctic last year in pursuit of oil reserves.

Bloomberg has more information about the oil potential in the Arctic, along with a link to a U.S. Geological Survey report released yesterday that says the Arctic may hold 90 billion barrels of oil.

The Arctic may hold 90 billion barrels of oil, more than all the known reserves of Nigeria, Kazakhstan and Mexico combined, and enough to supply U.S. demand for 12 years, the U.S. Geological Survey said.

One-third of the undiscovered oil is in Alaskan territory, the agency found in a study released today. By contrast, a geologic formation beneath the North Pole claimed by Russian scientists last year probably holds just 1.2 percent of the Arctic's crude, the U.S. report showed.

Of course, exploiting that oil in such harsh territory would be an adventure, as would dealing with the international issues at the North Pole.

But claims that we're running out of oil are definitely unfounded. We have a lot of years left before oil gets scarce, meaning liberal plans to force research on alternative fuels premature and unfounded.

Let the market work naturally. Alternative sources of power will come, and they'll do it without jamming the American family with outrageous fuel prices.