In the industrialized world there is one common currency today. That currency is oil. As China becomes a greater economic power, their demand for this resource will rival that of the United States. With this reality in mind, investors have been keeping one eye for a fuel alternative to oil that they can get behind. Searching for an investment opportunity that involves oil alternatives is a logical move, but recent studies have shown there are other oil opportunities that could prove to be highly profitable.

In April of 2006, US News and World Report ran a story about oil in the United States. Sitting underneath the states of Colorado, Wyoming, and Utah are an estimated 2 trillion barrels of oil. That alone would be enough to make the United States independent from foreign sources of oil, but combine that with the fields that are located in the Gulf of Mexico, and America has enough oil to keep it fueled for decades while alternative fuels are perfected.

Currently these areas are considered off limits to drilling due to political and over-reaching environmental issues. With elections in 2006 and 2008, the right political climate could change America's self-imposed dependence on foreign oil and create a bonanza for those who invest in United States oil.