By Jerry Robinson
Follow the Money Daily 
2011 is turning out to be a boom year for OPEC. If oil can stay consistently above $100 until December, the cartel is projected to reap $1 trillion in oil revenues by year’s end. This would be OPEC’s most profitable year on record. In 2008, OPEC fell short of the $1 trillion mark, reaching $990 billion in revenues. Analysts expect Russia to also have a record year in oil revenues – somewhere between $100 billion and $350 billion - if oil prices can manage to stay above $100.
And now ... A new report from the Interior Department, obtained by the AP and set to be released today, says that more than two-thirds of offshore oil and gas leases in the Gulf of Mexico are currently sitting idle. According to experts, these inactive leases potentially hold more than 11 billion barrels of oil and 50 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. In addition, the report indicates that 45 percent of all onshore oil and gas leases are inactive.
According to the White House, President Barack Obama will be outlining his new plans for America’s energy policy on Wednesday. He will put forward an overall goal of reducing oil imports by one third over the next decade and relying upon more on cleaner forms of energy. It’s the same old story that we have been hearing for years.
Here’s more of what to expect from the President’s speech.
Related Links
Obama's green-jobs fantasies - WorldNetDaily (John Stossel) Two-thirds of oil and gas leases in Gulf inactive - Associated Press Obama: Let's Focus on "Clean Energy" - Townhall.com (Katie Pavlich) Obama's Words Ring Hollow In His Energy Speech - FOX News Obama Runs Out of Gas - Human Events (John Hayward)
