The United States has an unbelievable amount of untapped natural resources. In fact, if all the Federal assets for just oil and natural gas below the ground were recoverable there would be enough money to pay off about 8 times the natural debt. That is a staggering figure. The Institute for Federal Research (IEF) says there are about 1,194 billion barrels of oil and 2,150 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.
At $100 per barrel of oil and $4 per thousand cubic feet of natural gas, that equates to a grand total of $8.6 trillion. And these are just oil and natural gas. There is also coal and other mineral resources below the ground. IEF estimates coal resources just in the lower 48 states to be worth $150.5 trillion, over 9 times our national debt. That does not even include Alaska.
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