If lowering the boom on U.S. oil companies is a bad idea -- and it is -- then the immediate consequence of such a clampdown is worse: that a tax is imposed on so-called "windfall" profits from the sale of gasoline and other petroleum products. The burden ultimately would fall on American consumers -- without alleviating the pain from high prices.

The logical conclusion should be don't make the first blunder so you are not forced into making the even worse second blunder. But since the dramatic increase in pump prices brought on by extensive hurricane damage to oil facilities in the Gulf of Mexico and oil refineries on the Louisiana coast, politicians in many states have been clamoring for government action to reduce prices, with some proposals -- price controls and a windfall profits tax -- reminiscent of the ill-begotten measures taken by President Richard M. Nixon and President Jimmy Carter during the 1970s energy crises.

Those aren't mistakes we want to repeat. Price controls on gasoline were unnecessary and counterproductive, resulting in potential shortages and long gas lines. The tax on "excess" industry profits -- which was levied in 1980 after a leap in gas prices following the Iranian upheaval -- reduced industry revenues by $79 billion, funds that could have been used to invest in oil production. That blunder led to a reduction in domestic oil production of 1.6 billion barrels.

Discovering and developing new sources of oil anywhere in the world requires enormous investment, but especially in North America. If we do not, as a nation, explore and develop energy from prospective areas in the United States and Canada, and remain committed to use energy more efficiently, the consequence will be even greater dependence on oil from unpredictable regions such as the Middle East. The National Petroleum Council says oil companies will have to invest $1.2 trillion over the next two decades to finance energy development in North America.

Simply put, there is no realistic alternative to increased use of oil and natural gas for the foreseeable future. The Energy Information Administration estimates that by 2025 the demand for oil will increase by 40 percent, and natural gas, by 34 percent, even with improvements in energy efficiency and expanded use of alternative energy sources.

The present situation underlines the need to remove whatever constraints exist on expanding oil-refining capacity. Streamlining the permitting process should be a high priority, so that it doesn't take as long as 10 years to build a new refinery.

Just as importantly, we need to recognize that America has vast oil and natural gas resources that are untapped, much of it on federal and state lands. The U.S. Geological Survey and the National Petroleum Council estimate there are 130 billion barrels of oil and 1,000 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, but that more than half of it is on federal land, onshore and offshore, where production is either severely restricted or banned altogether. Among the areas closed to production is the Outer Continental Shelf, off the Atlantic and Pacific Coasts, and Alaska and the Eastern Gulf of Mexico. Opening up these offshore areas alone would provide an estimated 100 billion barrels of oil and 420 trillion cubic feet of natural gas -- enough to last for decades.

After years of debate, removing the ban on oil-and-gas development in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge should be a high priority. The U.S. Geological Survey estimates that the refuge could contain as much as 17 billion barrels of oil and 35 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. Actual drilling would take place on fewer than 2,000 acres, a small sliver of the 19 million-acre Alaska refuge.

Dramatic advances in drilling technology and improved operations have reduced the effects of oil and gas development, both on land and in coastal waters. Seismic, three-dimensional imaging now enables producers to locate oil and gas deposits without the need for exploratory drilling. The use of horizontal and directional drilling means that multiple underground wells can be drilled from a single pad, sometimes reaching sites five to 10 miles away. Consequently, fewer production wells are visible in areas where oil and gas development is under way.

With an adjustment in policies to reflect the facts and realities of energy markets, we will have the ability to discover and produce more of the oil and gas our country needs.

If there are problems, they probably will come from turmoil in oil-producing countries or political difficulties created by those who cannot afford to let the market work.