If you tuned in to the Republican National Convention earlier this month, you probably heard the chant loud and clear.

In calling for increased production of domestic oil, former Maryland Lt. Gov. Michael Steel declared, “;We need to drill, baby, drill! And drill now!”;

The mantra apparently resonated.

Democrats, who have long opposed drilling off the Atlantic and Pacific coasts, relented to election-year pressure to do something about high gas prices by agreeing to let a quarter-century-old ban on offshore drilling expire at year's end.

A one-year extension of the ban was left off a $630 billion-plus stopgap government spending bill that President Bush had threatened to veto if the anti-drilling measure were included. The bill was approved 370-58 by the House last week and is expected to be approved by the Senate, also without the drilling ban.

But will more drilling help?

“;It's supply and demand, and they need to work on both ends of that equation,”; said Al Anderson, manager of the Tesoro Hawaii Corp. refinery in Kapolei. “;If we can add more supply—it is a world market—that will keep the price lower for crude, no matter where it is.”;

The Western States Petroleum Association, an industry trade group, does not forecast oil and gas prices, but says it is encouraged by the dialogue that has been brought forth this political season.

Republican presidential nominee John McCain has made expanded offshore drilling a central part of his campaign, arguing that access to an estimated 18 billion barrels of oil in the off-limits Outer Continental Shelf is essential if the country is to become more energy independent.

His Democratic rival, Barack Obama, also has endorsed limited expansion of offshore drilling, but only as part of a broader energy package that boosts use of alternative energy sources and increases efficiency.

“;We've had a policy in the United States for a long time that we've called the 'Just Say No' energy policy—when it comes to making use of energy here at home, we tend to say no,”; said Tupper Hull, a spokesman for the Western States Petroleum Association. “;Our dependence on foreign oil—much of it from countries that are unstable or unfriendly to the U.S.—has grown dramatically during that period of time and there's been, I think, a very appropriate recognition that that may not be the best policy for American consumers.”;

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Other experts see no benefit—now or in the future—from increased drilling now.

Matthew Simmons, a Houston investment banker, author and former adviser to George W. Bush's campaign, subscribes to the “;peak oil”; theory that the world's finite fossil fuel resources have been mostly depleted.

Even if there are abundant oil stores in the Outer Continental Shelf, they are unlikely to be reached easily, and it is probably too late for any drilling to make a difference in oil prices, Simmons said.

“;The reality is, it's an idea that we should've been promoting for a long, long period of time,”; Simmons said. “;We didn't do it, so now there are only a handful of places that it would potentially have any high impact.

“;We have no idea where we should even start to drill. ... It is not, by any stretch of the imagination, a short-term or even an intermediate-term solution.”;

Jim Dator, director of UH's Hawaii Research Center for Future Studies, agrees with the peak oil theory, and says consumers in Hawaii and the nation need to brace for a world of high gas prices until alternative energy sources can be developed on a commercial scale.

“;I think that we are long past the time when we could more or less effortlessly and painlessly transition from oil to alternative forms,”; Dator said.

Increased drilling, he said, will do nothing more than prolong the dependence on oil and further damage the environment.

“;We can't just look at getting more oil or more energy of any form,”; Dator said, “;without considering both the economic cost and the effects on the environment.”;