Oil drilling: Obama taking credit for Bush's success

In his press conference last week, President Obama said that domestic oil production is the highest its been since 2003. If that's true, it's only because of the actions of his predecessor.

From the National Journal:

According to EIA’s [Energy Information Administration] short-term 2011 outlook, released last week, oil production was significantly higher in 2009 than in the years prior. Obama may have been in office for most of that year, but the oil production numbers are due to action taken before he became president. In 2010, most if not all of the production increase recorded is likely due to action that predates Obama, since Obama didn’t take any major action expanding offshore drilling his first year in office.

“One can attribute an upswing in the Gulf of Mexico over the last several years to increasing leases and developing of deep-water drilling,” said Newell, who declined to comment specifically about whether or not those leases were issued under Bush’s -- and not Obama’s -- watch.

“I haven’t evaluated; one would have to go back and look at specific projects coming on line at different points in time,” [EIA Administrator Richard] Newell said.

It appears to be Bush's actions, not Obama's, that have increased drilling.

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