The recent increase in domestic oil production touted by President Obama took place almost entirely on non-federal lands beyond his administration’s control, a new study has found.
The study, prepared by the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service (CRS), examined oil production on federal and non-federal land between 2007-2011. Approximately 96 percent of the total increase in domestic oil production occurred on non-federal land, CRS found.
Earlier this month, the Energy Information Administration reported that oil and natural gas production on federal land declined 40 percent over the past decade and 14 percent in 2011 alone.
Obama has been touting the increase in domestic oil production in an effort to assuage mounting concerns over record fuel prices throughout the country.
"Under my administration, America is producing more oil today than at any time in the last eight years," he said in a speech last month.
But his critics are quick to note that, as suggested by the CRS study, the administration is not doing everything it can to increase production on federal land.
"He’s taking credit for something that is not under his control," a Republican congressional aide tells the Washington Free Beacon.
"Ninety-six percent on non-federal land. I mean, that’s astonishing," added the aide. "I didn't expect the number to be that high."