The URL is difficult to enter, and the article is short and mainly
quotes, so I will take the liberty of uploading it. As Chris Zell
says, it is sadly defeatist.
- Jed
Exxon: America will always rely on foreign oil
Tue Feb 7, 2006 2:19 PM ET
HOUSTON (Reuters) - The United States will always rely on foreign
imports of oil to feed its energy needs and should stop trying to
become energy independent, a top Exxon Mobil Corp. executive said on Tuesday.
"Realistically, it is simply not feasible in any time period relevant
to our discussion today," Exxon Mobil Senior Vice President Stuart
McGill said, referring to what he called the "misperception" that the
United States can achieve energy independence.
The comments, in a speech at an energy conference in Houston, come a
few days after U.S. President George W. Bush declared America was
addicted to Middle Eastern oil and promised to help the country kick the habit.
Many in the United States believe America should wean itself off oil
imports from the Middle East, fearing it makes the country
dangerously dependent on an unstable region.
The world's largest publicly traded oil company, however, says hoping
to end foreign oil imports is not only a bad idea, but also impossible.
"Americans depend upon imports to fill the gap," McGill said. "No
combination of conservation measures, alternative energy sources and
technological advances could realistically and economically provide a
way to completely replace those imports in the short or medium term."
Instead of trying to achieve energy independence, importing nations
like the U.S. should be promoting energy interdependence, McGill said.
"Because we are all contributing to and drawing from the same pool of
oil, all nations -- exporting and importing -- are inextricably bound
to one another in the energy marketplace," he said.