Right now, the Unites States is the world’s leading producer of oil - something most people don’t know about and have trouble believing when they’re told.

Probably because for the past several decades, they’ve been constantly told by a doom-and-gloom media chorus that America is on the verge of running out of oil - and so will be forever dependent on foreign oil.

This became the baseline fear narrative justifying decades of energy austerity for Americans - in the form of things like punitive "gas guzzler" taxes applied to vehicles Americans like to drive, such as trucks and SUVs - as well as the push to get Americans into electric cars, which most of them don’t want to drive because while they may be quick, they don't go far and they take a ludicrous amount of time to recharge.

But the doom-and-gloomers were extremely wrong.

About everything.

Gas is cheaper today in inflation-adjusted dollars than it was back in 1965 - when Americans first began hearing about “peak oil,” the now-discredited theory which postulated imminent scarcity that never materialized.

Thanks, chiefly, to the policies of President Trump - which eased the regulatory burdens on energy exploration in the U.S. Vast new reserves have been discovered here, making America energy independent.

But what about elsewhere?

Is the rest of the world on the verge of running out of oil?

Nope.

Just as has happened here, new sources of oil are being identified there.

In places like the African nation of Nigeria where a vast new field has been identified using airborne magnetic surveying. Reconnaissance Africa, Ltd. (ReconAfrica) was the first oil exploration company to be granted access to the Namibian government’s survey - which covers an area of roughly 6.3 million acres.

The process uses a magnetometer - either inside an airplane or towed behind it - to penetrate deep into the earth below and gauge what's down there without the cost or labor of actually having to go down there.

This technique has been deployed all over the world in lieu of digging exploratory wells that may not pan out.

According to Bill Cathey - considered among the world’s foremost experts at interpreting data acquired by magnetic surveying - the Kavango Basin area in the northeastern part of the country may hold more than 16 billion barrels of high-grade crude locked up in marine sedimentary shales that date back to the Permian period, some 300 million years ago.

This would be comparable to the proven reserves of Brazil, which is ranked 15th in the world.

“Nowhere in the world has there seen a sedimentary basin this deep that does not produce vast quantities of rich hydrocarbons,” he said.

It has already produced jobs - for Americans.

To get at that oil, Recon signed a $1.8 million deal to buy a drilling rig from Henderson Rigs of Humble, TX. Recon needed equipment that could reach the depths needed to access the oil locked up in the Kavanga basin, which goes as deep as 30,000 feet. This will be the first of at least three well-digging campaigns scheduled to be under way before the end of this year.

Recon - which isn't a household name like ExxonMobil or British Petroleum - also managed to acquire 25-year drilling rights to the entire Kavanga basin. It's considered quite a coup for a smaller company.

Recon is the only on-shore producer of oil in Namibia, too.

ExxonMobil is looking for oil off the coast of Namibia. Under the ocean.

But the important point is that there is lots of oil in both places - and in many other places. Including places where the oil wasn't supposed to be - or (so we were told) was about to run out.

Which may have been a reasonable theory - back in 1965. Based on the technology that was available back in '65.

Back then, one didn't look for oil deposits from 30,000 feet in the air. And getting at oil 30,000 feet below the surface (and under an ocean) wasn't technically feasible or economically viable.

But technology has improved a lot since Lyndon Johnson was president. New methods for identifying - and accessing - oil are now available and they've more than doubled the previously estimated amount of oil that's economically recoverable.

Speaking of which, not only is America now a net exporter of oil due to all the oil it is producing now, it also possesses the largest proven reserves of oil. More oil than Saudi Arabia and Russia. Some 264 billion barrels.

There may be a lot more oil underneath Namibia, too.

It turns out the doom-and-gloomers had no clue what they were talking about.

Recon and others who've struck black gold do.

Dan Perkins is an author of both thrillers and children’s books. He appears on over 1,100 radio stations. Mr. Perkins appears regularly on international TV talk shows, he is current events commentator for seven blogs, and a philanthropist with his foundation for American veterans, Songs and Stories for Soldiers, Inc. More information about him, his writings, and other works are available on his website, DanPerkins.guru. To read more of his reports — Click Here Now.