The country also has additional oil reserves that are not included in traditional estimates, which could change the equation, said Rep. Mike Pence, R-Ind.

The United States has the world's largest known deposit of oil shale -- rock containing petroleum-like liquids -- largely on federal lands in Utah, Wyoming and Colorado. These rocks contain an estimated 1.23 trillion barrels of oil, according to the federal Bureau of Land Management, a section of the U.S. Department of the Interior.

"On what basis do we dismiss 110 years of (oil supply in) potential oil shale reserves?" Pence asked the witnesses at Thursday's hearing.