Americans consume 25 percent of the world's petroleum but possess only two percent of the world's supply. If you started - today - to try to find oil in the AWNR it will take several years to get it online.
A USGS study estimated that only 3.2 billion to 6.3 billion barrels would be ''economically recoverable'' from the refuge over the 50-year life of the oil field (USGS Fact Sheet 1998).
At current consumption levels, 3.2 to 6.3 billion barrels represents is a six- to eight-month national supply. Proponents of drilling claim that the ANWR recoverable amount is in the 10 to 16 billion barrels range, which means that we're looking at a supply of less than 2 years (actually it would last longer than that, because you simply can't physically pump that fast).

Quite honestly, if you're looking for an economic argument for ANWR, it's just not there. On the other had, Texas and Arizona are shaping up to be MAJOR sources of Wind and Solar power, so the money probobly will be better spent (and invested!) there for better economic returns. There's already been some serious investment in this area, there will be more.