How important is oil sands to America’s energy future?
Answer:
Our nation needs more supplies of all energy sources―including oil and natural gas―to meet growing energy demand and provide consumers with reliable fuel supplies.
Get The Whole AnswerFeatured Questions
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What role do oil speculators play in determining the price of gas? Should the government regulate oil speculation?
Answer:
Market fundamentals are behind recent crude oil price increases. As the economies of the world begin to recover from the recession, global demand for crude is increasing while global excess oil production capacity is shrinking. Furthermore, buyers of crude oil are also clearly concerned about instability in major oil-producing nations in North Africa and the Middle East.
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Will China purchase Canada's oil sands crude if the Keystone XL pipeline isn’t built?
Answer:
Following Pres. Obama's decision to reject the Keystone XL permit, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper is looking to ship oil sands crude to Asian markets and met with Chinese President Hu Jintao in February 2012.
Shipping oil sands to Asian markets is a loss for American job creation, the U.S. economy and overall U.S. energy security for years to come.
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How does hydraulic fracturing work?
Answer:
Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, is a safe and well-regulated technology that has been used for more than 60 years in more than one million wells. In the United States, an estimated 35,000 wells are drilled using fracking each year. Fracking has safely produced more than seven billion barrels of oil and 600 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, and studies estimate that up to 80 percent of natural gas wells drilled in the next decade will require hydraulic fracturing technology.
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How much do oil companies make on each dollar of sales, and how does that compare with other business and industries?
Answer:
Because integrated oil and natural gas companies are large, their earnings are large. What’s not often reported is that oil and gas company earnings actually are well in line with the U.S. manufacturing industry, averaging about 7 cents for every dollar of sales. The latest published data for the first quarter of 2012 shows the oil and natural gas industry earned 7.5 cents on the dollar in comparison with all U.S. manufacturing, which earned 8.9 cents for every dollar of sales. When looking at net profit margins, the U.S. oil and natural gas industry ranks 114 out of 215 industries.
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Oil company profits are very high; are they paying their fair share in taxes?
Answer:
The fact is, the oil and natural gas industry’s income tax expenses as a percentage of net income (before income taxes) averaged 40.6 percent in 2011, compared to 25.1 percent for other S&P Industrial companies. U.S. oil and natural gas companies pay approximately $86 million to the U.S. Treasury in rents, royalties and income tax payments every single day.
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How much do oil companies make on each dollar I spend on gas?
Answer:
The latest published data for the fourth quarter of 2011 shows the oil and natural gas industry earned 6.2 cents for every dollar of sales. These earnings are in line with the average of other major U.S. manufacturing industries, which earned 8.3 cents for every dollar of sales.
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