he Democrats say there is plenty of oil and land to drill on. The Republicans say the high price for gas is a supply and demand problem. I set off to look for information. I found some interesting charts on the Bakers-Hughes web site. They are a company that Provides products and services to the worldwide oil and gas industry. Lets go back a few years. from 1973 to 1979 the price per barrel for oil was less than $10. During that time the drilling count went from around 1,000 to 2,500 drilling rigs. In 1982 oil prices spiked to around $32 because of the Oil embargo. At the same time the drilling rig count peaked at 4,500 rigs. By 1986 the oil prices had dropped to around $32. The rig count had dropped to 1,900 rigs. From 1987 to 2004 oil bounced from $10 to $35 a barrel. On 4-23-1999 the drilling rig count hit a low of 448. In 2005 oil started going up as did the amount of drilling rigs. Oil passed $40 and the rig count went to around 1,500. As of July 11th 2008 more rigs have been brought online. Up to around 1,900 (equal to the 1986 levels). The price for a barrel is now around $135 per barrel. It seems obvious to me that the oil companies deploy drilling rigs when it is in their own interests. It has nothing to do with national security or helping consumers. I encourage you to check out this web site and do the research yourself and respond. When the first oil crisis hit in the 70's the oil industry ramped up to 4,000 rigs. With our dependence on foreign oil growing from 25% back then to 60+% now, how can anyone explain the rig deployment dropping to 448 in 1999. It seems oil producers are only interested in profits. How can any one guarantee the oil producers will keep producing when prices drop? The history says no.