Republican Trick for Big Oil

Drilling offshore will not reduce the price of fuel one cent. I was an information technology consultant for the energy industry in Houston, TX just prior to the bust in the '70's. There were several hundred companies in the immediate downtown area that called themselves exploration companies. In fact, the only thing they explored were which leases to buy sell or trade. Leases are commodities in the energy industry. They're used to increase revenue. Why else do you think there are millions of onshore and offshore leases that haven't been developed? The holders are waiting for a company to explore an area. If producible oil and/or gas is/are discovered, adjacent leases go up in value. The owners of those leases put them up for sale for a profit. In addition, if the exploration effort is successful, pipelines and roads have to be built to deliver the product to the refineries. All of which takes a lot of time. Let's not kid ourselves. The Republican push for offshore drilling benefits only one group and it's not the US consumer. The only thing that will reduce the price of fuel in the short term is a drop in demand.