Country needs Obama election

JIM BODE

Lima

According to Money magazine, the oil companies have leases on 90 million offshore acres, and only about 20 million are being drilled. The Democrats sponsored a bill to require oil companies to diligently develop the land they lease. Coal companies are required to show they are diligently developing land they lease, but oil companies aren't required to. Naturally, the Republicans blocked this sensible bill to protect their good friends, big oil.

But why would big oil just sit on their leases? Consider that the oil they have leases on is part of the value of their companies. If oil goes from $50 a barrel to $100 a barrel, their value just doubled.

People are predicting $400 a barrel oil in a few years. If that happens, the value increases by eight times. If they drilled earlier and drained that oil at say $50 a barrel, they would get $50 a barrel minus the costs of getting it out of the ground and distributing it, but they would lose all the increase in value.

Exxon made $1,300 a second in 2007. They have no need for more income now and certainly no interest in doing more drilling with it. So they just sit on the leases they have. They'd love to get more leases to increase the value of their companies and the Republicans are hot to give more to them. "Drill now, drill everywhere," they shriek. But the fact is it's big oil that will get the new leases and do little or no drilling just as they are sitting on 70 million acres while we pay through the nose.

We need to elect Barack Obama to the presidency and more Democrats to Congress to break the Republican big oil monopoly.

EDITOR'S NOTE; Democrats already control both houses of Congress.