This year, due to the increase in the price of crude oil and a shortage of refining capacity, gas prices rose dramatically. It has put financial pressure on consumers and political pressure the Biden administration to act accordingly to lower prices. As a result, the role America plays in the international oil market has become a top political issue.
"This small area has enough oil to fuel America for the next 200 years," reads a a July 12 Facebook post that was shared more than 1,400 times in three days. The image in the post shows a map of Texas and New Mexico with a part greyed out to indicate the boundary of the Permian Basin, the U.S.'s most productive oil region. Within that greyed out section, two dotted yellow lines outline the Delaware and Midland Basins.
Other versions of the claim amassed thousands of additional shares on Facebook.
Estimates of how much oil is in the Delaware and Midland Basins can vary, but experts told USA TODAY even if the highest estimate were true, it would not be enough to meet Americans' oil consumption needs for two centuries.
U.S. Geological Survey assessments show those two basins contain about 66 billion barrels of oil, which equates to about nine years of America's oil consumption – not 200 years as the post claims.
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