The economics of allowing more U.S. oil drilling

This paper examines the likely impact of developing U.S. energy resources on oil prices. In addition, we examine the benefits and costs of allowing drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and the areas of the Outer Continental Shelf that were until recently closed to drilling. We find that allowing oil drilling in ANWR and the off-limits OCS would be likely to have a very modest impact on oil prices-on the order of 1%. However, a benefit-cost analysis of developing ANWR and off-limits OCS suggests that the benefits are likely to exceed the costs.