Chevron's big oil find beneath the Gulf of Mexico has produced a gusher of superlatives. Jackpot ! Bonanza ! Breakthrough ! Indeed, the discovery five miles beneath the surface is the biggest in a generation, with the potential to boost U. S. oil reserves by 50 percent.
But no one should joyfully begin to rev up the engine on the SUV. At best, the 750, 000 barrels a day the Walker Ridge Block oil field may produce will give America a small bit of extra breathing room.
The United States consumes some 20 million barrels of oil each day, and the amount grows every year. World demand, led by China and other rapidly industrializing countries, is rising faster than America's. Capitol Hill didn't spotlight that inconvenient truth after the Chevron announcement. Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N. M., and others called for new exploration and drilling anywhere black gold might be coaxed from the Earth. But oil hawks should also get behind new, bipartisan legislation sponsored by Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif. This bill would increase car and truck fuel standards 1 mile per gallon each year for a decade. As much as 2. 5 million barrels of oil a day could be saved by 2025. And that would be enough to make the oil from Walker Ridge much more meaningful. - The Star-Ledger Newark, N. J.
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