Tue Apr 29, 2008 2:12pm EDT • Contrarian Profits

Where is ANWAR? This is what thousands of investors are searching the internet for following President Bush’s attempt to persuade Americans that high oil prices are due to the fact that Congress has “repeatedly blocked environmentally safe exploration” there.

For those confused by Bush’s statements today, ANWR (the correct spelling) stands for Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Bush claimed today that Congress’s refusal to open the reserve for exploration is a major contributor to sky-high oil prices. However, a US Energy Department analysis released today revealed that oil development in ANWR Alaska would only slightly reduce America’s dependence on imports and would lower oil prices by less than 50 cents a barrel.
According to MSNBC:

The report, issued by the Energy Information Administration … said that if Congress gave the go-ahead to pump oil from Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, the crude could begin flowing by 2013 and reach a peak of 876,000 barrels a day by 2025.

But even at peak production, the EIA analysis said, the United States would still have to import two-thirds of its oil, as opposed to an expected 70 percent if the refuge’s oil remained off the market.
Whether ANWR Alaska is the answer or nor, Bush and Congress better think of an alternative to the US dependence on Middle East oil soon.

Jason Simpkins at Money Morning has startling evidence that the Saudis are lying about their oil capacity.
As investing legend Jim Rogers pointed out in a recent interview with Money Morning Investment Director Keith Fitz-Gerald, Saudi Arabia has claimed to have the same amount of oil it did 20 years ago, but logic seems to run contrary to that assertion.
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