In testimony before the U.S. House of Representatives, Lucian Pugliaresi, President of the Energy Policy Research Foundation, assessed the causes of current high gasoline prices and made the case for increasing domestic oil production now.
With 85 percent of the cost of gasoline determined by crude oil prices, any efforts to reduce gasoline prices must focus on reducing the price of oil. Pugliaresi argues that without growing U.S. production on private lands in North Dakota, Colorado and Texas, gasoline prices today would be even higher. He called for an "aggressive" program to expand leasing on federal lands in the west, accelerate offshore leasing, and open up the "vast opportunities" in Alaska.
Addressing the argument that increasing domestic production will take too long to impact gasoline prices today, Pugliaresi noted that crude oil prices are determined not only by current production, but by market expectations of future production - a point that he illustrated with historical examples.
Pugliaresi will be speaking at an Alaska World Affairs Council luncheon in Anchorage on April 20, 2012, as part of the Northrim Oil & Gas Speakers series.
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