Energy independence

Why are we importing from Russia?

Because when oil was under $100 a barrel it was not profitable to extract a lot of our domestic oil.  Furthermore, since our system is capitalistic there is no incentive for the oil companies to have reserves on tap for times of crisis.

Why aren't US oil comnpanies drilling more?

We certainly have enough drilling capacity.    (And that fact is contrary to what you'll hear from MAGA TV )

Unless you want a government takeover of our oil industry we are left to their free market board of directors  as to how much they want to drill.    

I wouldn't mind cutting off Russia completely, but that would probably involve even higher gas prices and perhaps rationing.

America rationed lots of stuff during World War II in the name of freedom, which is one of the reasons that generation of Americans is referred to as the Greatest Generation.

Then the baby boomers came along and started worshiping selfishness. You know, the Worst Generation.

Because "we" refers not to our government, but rather, to a collection of private companies--companies that can make their own decisions, independently, regarding where to buy products. If those companies choose to buy fossil fuel products from Russia, it's because those products are cheaper than they would be in the US. You know, good old capitalism.

The concept of "energy independence" is both stupid and largely meaningless. Very few countries rely on only domestically produced energy sources. We already are "energy independent," in that we don't depend on other countries to supply our energy needs. That many companies buy energy abroad doesn't change that one bit.

https://www.cnn.com/2022/03/02/energy/us-oil-production/index.html

It's very profitable to extract domestic oil at $100 per barrel.  Companies have great amounts of domestic reserves, but they have not been doing much drilling due to the previously low oil prices.  Remember, it takes 10-15 years to develop a newly discovered oil play.

Natural gas prices have jumped for several reasons, a few of which are a lack of enough pipelines and the other is Biden limiting fracking on public lands.  The third issue is previously low gas prices.  Get Biden out of the way, and fracking can happen quickly in existing known sites........maybe two years.

It's very profitable to extract domestic oil at $100 per barrel.  Companies have great amounts of domestic reserves, but they have not been doing much drilling due to the previously low oil prices.  Remember, it takes 10-15 years to develop a newly discovered oil play.

Natural gas prices have jumped for several reasons, a few of which are a lack of enough pipelines and the other is Biden limiting fracking on public lands.  The third issue is previously low gas prices.  Get Biden out of the way, and fracking can happen quickly in existing known sites........maybe two years.

PJ's view is slightly symplistic, but quite accurate.

One great solution would be the completion of the Keystone pipeline.  We have a bunch of US refineries which where built to run on high sulfer (sour) crude, and we don't have enough of it.  Most new sources of fracked oil is sweet and we need more sour crude..................and that's exactly what would come in greater volumes and at a cheaper cost from Canada on Keystone.  While this oil is not domestic, it would provide oil from a very secure souce.

Let fracking kick back in and build more natural gas pipelines.  This will bring down electricy costs within a couple of years.  Jen Psaki tells us that Keystone will take years to complete so we shouldn't do it.  Obama and friends told us the same thing a decade ago.............and of course if he had gotten the fuck out of the way back then, the pipeline would be fully operational by now.