Economic report out of Aggieland and the oil patch...

“We’ve put revenues on the table through economic growth,” Rep. Bill Flores said. “If we had a revenue problem then the pledge would be a problem, but we don’t have a revenue problem. We have an economic growth problem because of the policies coming out of Washington.” Mr. Flores, R-Bryan, is a member of the House Budget Committee.

“The only pledge a member of Congress should be bound by is the one to uphold the law and the Constitution,” said David Schleicher, treasurer of the McLennan County Democratic Party.. “So I’m disappointed (Flores) will not join his Republican colleagues in seeking a balanced approach.”

The number of rigs in U.S. oil fields has more than quad­rupled in the past three years to 1,272, according to the Baker Hughes rig count. Including those in natural gas fields, the United States now has more rigs at work than the entire rest of the world.

"It's staggering," said Marshall Adkins, who directs energy research for the financial services firm Raymond James. "If we continue growing anywhere near that pace and keep squeezing demand out of the system, that puts you in a world where we are not importing oil in 10 years."

There are doubts that energy independence is that close. But many say the booming shale oil fields in Texas and North Dakota and the growth of deep-water drilling in the Gulf of Mexico will allow the nation to cut its reliance on oil imports significantly over the next couple of decades.

Last month, the U.S. Energy Information Administration upgraded its forecast of crude production in 2025 to 6.4 million barrels per day - 1 million barrels more than were pumped in 2010.

Previously, the EIA had projected the U.S. would peak at 6 million barrels in 2022. - "Houston Chronicle" Feb., 2012