While gasoline prices in the U.S. continue to near the $4 mark, President Obama has finally embraced increased offshore oil production. Too bad it’s in Brazil and not in the United States.

During remarks at the CEO Business Summit in Brazil this weekend, President Obama stated:

“We want to help with technology and support to develop these oil reserves safely, and when you’re ready to start selling, we want to be one of your best customers. At a time when we’ve been reminded how easily instability in other parts of the world can affect the price of oil, the United States could not be happier with the potential for a new, stable source of energy.”

Since taking office, President Obama has repeatedly blocked access to U.S. oil and natural gas production – including withdrawing onshore leases, imposing a de facto moratorium in the Gulf of Mexico and placing huge portions of the United States’ offshore areas off-limits to new drilling. It’s troubling that the President would promote oil production abroad while blocking it here at home.

“Rather than creating American energy and American jobs, President Obama is in Brazil advocating for deepening the United States’ reliance on foreign energy,” said Natural Resources Committee Chairman Doc Hastings. “The President has clearly learned nothing from recent world events. He appears to believe the answer is to shift our foreign energy dependence from one part of the world to another. The real answer is to produce more American energy. The ‘potential for a new, stable source of energy’ can be found with our own resources here at home. Resources that the Obama Administration is purposely choosing to keep under lock-and-key.”

This is not the first time the Obama Administration has suggested that foreign oil can make up for declining U.S. production.

As part of the interim safety rule issued by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management on October 14, 2010 the Interior Department stated that:

“There is sufficient spare capacity in OPEC to offset a decrease in Gulf of Mexico deepwater production that could occur as a result of this rule.”

Most Americans would agree that our national and economic security should not be left in the hands of OPEC.

Furthermore, the Administration is ignoring the vast energy resources within the United States. According to a recent Congressional Research Service (CRS) report, the United States combined technically recoverable oil, natural gas, and coal resources is 1.3 trillion barrels of oil equivalent – the largest in the world.

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