Obama to cut oil imports by a third

US President Barack Obama has outlined plans to secure America’s energy security. The President announced that reducing oil imports is key to this. He set out his aim to cut […]

US President Barack Obama has outlined plans to secure America’s energy security.

The President announced that reducing oil imports is key to this. He set out his aim to cut 2008 levels – 11 million barrels a day – by a third in just over a decade.

Mr Obama said in a speech at Georgetown University: “Here’s the bottom line – there are no quick fixes. And we will keep on being a victim to shifts in the oil market until we get serious about a long-term policy for secure, affordable energy.

“Meeting this new goal of cutting our oil dependence depends largely on two things: finding and producing more oil at home, and reducing our dependence on oil with cleaner alternative fuels and greater efficiency.”

The Department of the Interior will offer oil companies incentives for faster production in existing sites, and to explore untapped oil resources on US soil after a DOI report showed that 70% of offshore leased acres are inactive.

In the Obama Administration’s ‘Blueprint for A Secure Energy Future’ report, encouraging alternatives to oil was also top of the agenda, with emphasis put on the role that natural gas and biofuels would need to play in future.

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