Why drilling wont lower gas prices

Political rhetoric about the blame over gas prices and the power to change them - whether Republican claims now or Democrats ' charges four years ago - is not supported by cold, hard figures. And that's especially true about oil drilling in the United States. More oil production in the United States does not mean consistently lower prices at the pump. That's because oil is a global commodity and U. Factors far beyond the control of a nation or a president dictate the price of gasoline.

When you put the inflation-adjusted price of gas on the same chart as U. If drilling for more oil meant lower prices, the lines on the chart would consistently go in opposite directions. Other conceivable risks include political instability in regions such as the Middle East, corruption in places like Nigeria, and outright anti-U. Seventy-five dollars a barrel is more like it, lately.

The Saudis are doing all right, to say the least. There's no question that energy costs a lot. There's little doubt that the U. But environmental disaster, cleanup costs, dirty beaches, and oily seabirds aside, drilling here and drilling now isn't going to bring down the price of oil. Drill here, drill now, pay more, is more like it. Mark Henricks has reported on business, technology and other topics for The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Entrepreneur, and other leading publications long enough to lay somewhat legitimate claim to being The Article Authority.

Changes in the price at the pump do not follow U. The AP compared inflation-adjusted gas prices to U. If they were connected one would expect a consistent trend where gas prices eased as production from drilling increased.

Multiple statisticians and economists consulted by AP for verification of their analysis also agreed with the findings. In a recent speech , Senator Jeff Bingaman also pointed out the lack of a relationship between U.

The blue line is gasoline prices. Even with U. Many pundits choose to ignore the facts and play a gas price blame game that focuses on drilling everywhere and expanding polluting tar sands from Canada.