Did You Know? Report: U.S. Tops in Energy Resources

Jane Van Ryan
Posted November 3, 2009

Did you know that the United States has largest energy resources on Earth? You might be surprised to learn that a recent Congressional Research Service (CRS) report found just that.

The United States with its 1,321 billion barrels of oil equivalent (BOE) tops number 2 Russia with 1,248 billion BOE, and number 3 Saudi Arabia with 543 billion BOE.

The report also found that the United States has tapped into only 13 percent of these energy resources, with the other 87 percent still untouched. Sen. James Inhofe (R.-Ok.), along with Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R.-Alaska), who released the report last week said:

"Our overwhelming coal, natural gas, and oil resources represent tens of trillions of dollars in wealth and millions of American jobs. Government policies that unnecessarily restrict or prevent our ability to responsibly produce these domestic resources are threatening, and could eventually undermine, our nation's economic and national security."

Read the full CRS report and this article for more information.