d oil producing grounds and not property of the government. This makes for inefficient drilling since one party is not completely responsible for gathering all the oil. Average productions per well are 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. Developing methods of transportation, which slows gathering of the oil, is also very expensive. "Several refineries; on the West Coast, in the East and on the Gulf Coast, have experienced operational difficulties which affected product supplies in the marketplace" (Goulder 187) It is rumored that there are supply tanks buried somewhere near the Gulf of Mexico that could support the country for 66 days if anything were to happen. The United States and other countries have been looking into alternative forms of energy to lower their dependency toward foreign oil. Money is being spent into researching solar, hydro, nuclear, and alternate forms of energy. Government regulations also create changes in gas prices. California has recently gone through price increases at the pumps due to new legislation. The state is heavily overpopulated and has the worst smog of all the states. California gas stations are changing to a cleaner gas that will cause less air pollution, but will be more expensive. The increase is approximately 1012 cents. That is the price Californians are going to have to pay for cleaner air. This is another government regulation, which they aim toward the refiners of the oil. The government is putting pressure to change from their winter grades, which they oxygenate, to summer grades that have lower evaporability, helping the environment. The cost to switch fuels shows up at the pumps and the public has to pay for governmental research and environmental precautions. Even with the increase in prices, the United States doesn’t have it as bad as oth...
