Today's news is that a potential "elephant" with up to 15 billion barrels of oil has been found in the gulf of Mexico. It is very deep - in about 7000 feet of water, and then more than 10,000 feet below the ocean floor. I've been hearing about this oilfield in conversation with oil guys for six or seven years; they knew it was there, but it is hard to lift, and therefore expensive. A lot of capital investment is required, but with oil at nearly $70 per barrel it was now worth the risk. The informal discussions predicted far more than 15 billion barrels; maybe as much as 100 billion barrels in the Gulf of Mexico. Our former President Carter, who seems to think that America is the root of all the problems in the world, gave the Western half of the Gulf to Mexico for no good reason. There is probably a lot of oil in the region given to Mexico, but it won't be exploited any time soon because of Mexico's anti-American policies, and their backward economy that won't support them exploiting it themselves.