| OCR Text |
Show U.S. can cut oil imports, expert says The United States is capable -of expanding domestic energy production to the point where it could eliminate oil imports from the Eastern Hemisphere within 20 years, the chief economist of Standard Oil Company (Indiana) said recently. This goal, said Theodore R. Eck in a presentation to the Investment In-vestment Analysts Society of Chicago, "presumes that the U.S. Congress will cease pointless debates de-bates on how oil revenues should be divided and, instead, allows the private sector to make a maximum max-imum commitment of money and manpower to boosting domestic energy production." Fortunately, Eck said, energy conservation in the U.S. "is alive and doing well." Gasoline consumption con-sumption in 1979 was down 5 to 6 per cent from 1978. Also, he added, industrial energy consumption con-sumption per unit of output is sharply lower; total oil consumption consump-tion is below the level of three years ago; and incremental energy en-ergy use per real dollar of GNP is about half the level of pre-embargo pre-embargo days. The key to the U.S. energy future fu-ture is the CongTess, Eck concluded. con-cluded. "If Congress is serious about moving toward energy self-sufficiency, self-sufficiency, it will begin providing provid-ing a stable, less hostile political climate for investments in domestic do-mestic energy production, especially espe-cially oil and gas exploration and production." |
