U.S. Energy Self-Sufficiency?

I heard a commentator say that the U.S. might be self-sufficient in oil production by 2020.  He asked an energy expert, a woman, if that was so and her reply was roundabout, propaganda for oil corporations, that if oil companies were taxed there would be no exploration and drilling to become self-sufficient. 

Several things are wrong with this picture.  One, we use nearly 7 billion barrels of oil each year and have in the ground only 22 billion barrels found.  That means to be self-sufficient we would have to find 7 billion barrels of oil each year to just stay even.  Two, oil companies are making huge profits from the oil they sell at the high prices they are getting now.  Profits are above and beyond the costs of production and they are taxed on the surplus money above the production costs.  The oil corporation propaganda would have everyone think that there would not be enough money to explore for and produce oil if the profits were taxed.  Production costs are not taxed.  Exploration costs are not taxed.  The oil companies costs of production are tax exempt--a useful tool for holding back taxes as company expenses are often skewed in the direction of personal perks; like lodging, travel, meals, automobiles, planes etc.  Three, there is a finite amount of oil in the ground not found.  What is happening now is like a butcher picking meat off the bones.  What we are exploring and drilling for are the remnants of the huge oil fields we once had in this country.  The oil that is left is not enough to make us self-sufficient for any length of time, if at all.  The math does not add up.  Four, oil in the gulf is not ours.  All produced anywhere is sold at auction.  If Americans have enough money they win the bid, if not, they go without.  The oil companies sell their oil to the highest bidder;  patriotism, country loyalty figures very little in who gets the oil. 

So what you are hearing on TV is corporate propaganda.  We are being duped by an industry who watches the bottom line and has had and expects preferential treatment from everyone.  We are running out of oil and those who sell it expect to wring every dollar they can out of that resource until nothing is left.