onomy cars of the past and consume more gas and get less miles per gallon. The country is constantly searching for new and more efficient forms of energy. More importantly the country is searching for means of energy that will not make Americans poorer. The following chart shows the price of oil per barrel over the last year. These prices match the increases that take place at the pumps. Countries around the world are hanging on the decision of Iraq, regarding renewal of oil sales. However, the fact remains that if Iraq indeed decides to renew oil sales, will prices really drop? Even if Iraq gets back into the business of selling oil, it would be unlikely to cause a drastic shift in the price of a gallon of gasoline. Saddam Hussein’s actions have not been stable in the last few months. Iraq was supposed to begin exporting on Memorial Day, but due to erratic behavior, talks have been put on the back burner. Since there are so many factors involved, even if Iraq exports a tremendous amount of oil, consumers will probably not know the difference. Other factors, other than the demand and price of crude oil in the world effect prices. Several interruptions in The United States production of oil has staggered the countries production. The United States is the only major oil-producing country where oil producing grounds are owned by the land owner and not property of the government. This makes for inefficient drilling since one party is not completely responsible for gathering all the oil. Average production per well is only 15 barrels per day, far less than any other oil producing countries. Alaska has the best oil producing land, but due to the land and harsh climate, it makes it hard to gather. It is also very expensive to develop methods of transportation which slows gathering of the oil. "Several refineries—on the West Coast, in the East and on the Gulf Coast – have experienced operational difficulties which affected pro...
