For fear of oil spills, as of 2008, the U.S. Federal government and various states ban drilling in thousands upon thousands of square miles off the U.S. Coast. These areas, primarily on the Outer Continental Shelf, hold an estimated 115 billion barrels of oil and 633 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. This leaves America 's energy needs increasingly at the mercy of foreign autocrats, despots and maniacs. All the while worldwide demand for oil ratchets ever upward.

lastUpdated: Thu, 17 May 2012 18:14:00 CDT

The 6,000-square-mile Piceance Basin straddles the Colorado River and Interstate 70 in Garfield and Mesa counties, with portions extending northward into Rio Blanco County and south into Gunnison and Delta counties. Its name comes from an Indian dialect, translated as "tall grass." The Piceance could end up being the biggest natural gas field in North America.

lastUpdated: Tue, 15 May 2012 07:30:00 CDT

Campos Basin is a petroleum rich area located offshore of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It has a total area of 100,000 square kilometers, with 40 fields discovered and operated by Petrobras. Two major oil fields are Marlim and Albacora. Marlim is the largest field, located northeast of the Basin, 110 km offshore in water 650 to 1050 m deep. Marlim produces crude oil over 80,000 cubic meters (500,000 barrels) per day. Total daily production of Campos Basin is 175,000 cubic meters (1.1 million barrels) of oil and 17.36 million cubic meters of natural gas per day. The estimates are that in 2006, Campos Basin will be producing 250,000 cubic meters (1.6 million barrels) of oil per day. The confirmed reserves are 1.1 billion cubic meters (7.21 billion barrels) of oil and condensate, and 101.53 cubic kilometers of natural gas....

lastUpdated: Tue, 15 May 2012 03:18:00 CDT

The last giant oil frontier on Earth is in the arctic. The Arctic Ocean Abyssal floor is increasingly believed to hold vast reserves of untapped oil and natural gas, which is expected to become accessible as new deep-sea drilling and hydrocarbons production technology has become available.

lastUpdated: Thu, 10 May 2012 12:52:29 CDT

The 600-mile-long strip of mountains and forests off Russia's Far East is as good a vantage point as any to see the international oil industry's future and the challenges it faces. Big Oil is having to place ever bigger bets to get the reserves it needs. As a result immense new landmarks -- drilling platforms, pipelines, and liquefied natural gas facilities -- are rising through the mists of this forbidding island. An estimated 45 billion barrels of oil equivalent lie beneath the icy seas off its shores, a figure rivaling what remains in the U.S. or Europe. But developing those resources is proving lengthy, difficult, and expensive. Cost overruns have been huge, and no one knows if the Russians will end up controlling the assets now being built.

lastUpdated: Mon, 07 May 2012 07:43:42 CDT

Outer Continental Shelf (OCS): The Federal Government administers the submerged lands, subsoil, and seabed, lying between the seaward extent of the States' jurisdiction and the seaward extent of Federal jurisdiction.

lastUpdated: Wed, 02 May 2012 01:50:49 CDT

The Santos Basin is an 352,260 square kilometres (136,010 sq mi) offshore pre-salt basin. It is located in the south Atlantic ocean, some 300 kilometres (190 mi) south east of S?o Paulo, Brazil. One of the largest Brazilian sedimentary basins, it is the site of several recent (2007-08) significant oil fields, including Tupi and Jupiter.

lastUpdated: Fri, 27 Apr 2012 15:25:00 CDT

The Green River Formation likely represents the largest body of oil shale bearing rocks in the United States and is one of the largest in the world. Oil shale - sedimentary rock that contains a petroleum-like substance called kerogen - is found in great quantities in the western United States, particularly in the Green River Basin spanning portions of Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming.

lastUpdated: Thu, 01 Mar 2012 17:21:00 CDT