The United States is the third largest oil producer in the world (about 8 million barrels per day), but it is also the number one consumer of oil (20 million barrels per day).

Polls have shown that a majority of Americans want an increase in offshore drilling.

In response, Congress let a 27-year-old moratorium on offshore oil drilling expire at the end of last month. This put into play about 16 billion barrels of oil (or about 21 percent of U.S. offshore resources), according to the Department of Energy (DOE).

However, this is just a drop in the bucket.

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