The debate on opening up more federal lands and seas to drill for oil heated up again Monday, with President Bush rescinding an executive order banning the practice imposed by his father.

Congress last week countered earlier Bush demands it approve drilling when it voted to take away oil company rights to drill on federal lands if they don’t drill on the lands already available to them.

But we may have more of a demand problem than a supply problem. Any more oil we produce would go onto the world market. The U.S. Energy Information Agency of the federal government notes that even though countries like the U.S. cut back their oil consumption by 760,000 barrels per day in the first half of 2008, countries like China and the Middle East more than offset that by increasing their demand 1.3 million barrels per day.

Opening up drilling on the Outer Continental Shelf has reasonable people disagreeing on its impact on oil prices. Even the president conceded that it would not have any immediate impact on gasoline prices, but would help in the long run.

Experts say even if drilling were opened up now, it could take seven years to produce one drop of oil. In what seems to be an optimistic view, the President said up to 18 billion barrels could be accessed at some point over time. But even that doesn’t seem like it would be enough.

The long run could be problematic if we don’t get a handle on the demand problem. The federal government estimates world oil consumption will increased by 1.4 million barrels per day in 2009 to a total of about 90 million barrels a day. This comes after seven years of continually rising prices. World demand is expected to slightly exceed world production, further drawing down stockpiles.

And there is no guarantee oil produced off of U.S. coasts would go to U.S. consumers. Oil is a world market, and whoever in the world is willing to pay the price, will get the oil. We should remember, oil companies do not suddenly become charitable organizations because we allow them to drill in offshore areas of the U.S.