The United States has its share of huge oil and gas fields, but they are now all dwarfed by the newest field that runs through parts of Texas and New Mexico.
Bigger than the Bakken Shale Formation. Bigger than the Green River Shale Formation and larger than the Monterrey Oil Formation. The Delaware Basin hold about 46 billion barrels of oil, 281 trillion cubic feet of natural gas and nearly 20 billion barrels of natural gas liquids. That’s a lot of energy.
That gives the United States, which was already the number one energy producing country in the world, enough reserves to fill our growing needs for over 100 years.
Despite having the name of an East Coast state, the oil basin covers a wide area in western Texas and southeastern New Mexico.
U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke couldn’t hide his enthusiasm in announcing the historic discovery.
“Christmas came a few weeks early this year,” he declared in a statement. “American strength flows from American energy, and as it turns out, we have a lot of American energy.
“Before this assessment came down, I was bullish on oil and gas production in the United States. Now, I know for a fact that American energy dominance is within our grasp as a nation.”
It’s no secret that Middle Eastern oil has played a major role in geopolitical conflicts. When it comes to oil, many people think of places like Saudi Arabia, but the new discovery could help keep the U.S. energy independent for many years.
The state of Texas now has more proven oil reserves than the entire country of Saudi Arabia. And we still have 49 other states.
While Europe is struggling with gas prices ranging from five dollars a gallon to over seven dollars a gallon, in South Carolina where I live, we are paying less than a dollar eighty-eight a gallon.