The EPA will stonewall any new oil exploration and the eco-terrorists that helped get him into office (Sierra Club, Greenpeace, etc.) will stall it with lawsuits for years.
Textbook Obama smoke/mirrors tactic to curry favor with a few Rhino's to support his latest Cap and Tax legislation and prevent a filibuster in Congress.
Cap and Tax is his next layer of Socialism, which includes death to V-8 gasoline powered SUV's that are the top selling rigs in the US, will dictate what kind of lighting we use in our homes and will inflate the cost of every single item produced and consumed by We the People.
If Obama really wanted to allow companies to extract more oil in the USA, he would have pushed for this already, both to help out the ecomony and promote jobs.......not to mention his approval ratings with the American public.
Why would he do a 180? He's not, don't drink the Socialism Soda.