Most people know that the US is the world’s largest consumer of crude oil. But did you know that the US is the world’s third-largest oil producer, with production running at a little over 5 million barrels per day? Interestingly, the US produces 10% of the world’s petroleum and consumes 24%. Saudi Arabia and Russia are the top producers.
Consumption, Production, and Import Trends (1950-2007)
You may also be surprised to find out that almost 50% of US oil and petroleum products imports came from the Western Hemisphere during 2006. We imported only 16% of our crude oil and petroleum products from the Persian Gulf countries of Bahrain, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and United Arab Emirates. That debunks the myth that all US imports come from unstable OPEC nations.
In fact the top five suppliers of petroleum products in 2007 were:
- Canada (18.2%)
- Mexico (11.4%)
- Saudi Arabia (11.0%)
- Venezuela (10.1%)
- Nigeria (8.4%)
The top two are very stable, while Nigeria has been plagued by violence in recent years. Hugo Chavez has been a rhetorical thorn in the side over the past decade, but he likely needs us right now more than we need his oil.
Net imports still account for 58% of our supply, but I’m not trying to suggest we shouldn’t try to narrow that gap. If supplies from overseas are disrupted, price volatility would soar, and it would likely cause shortages that would have to be alleviated by the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.
But US dependence on foreign imports is projected to fall from 58% in 2007 to 41% by 2030. Reason – the increase in US crude production in the Gulf of Mexico and elsewhere, combined with increasing biofuel and coal-to-liquids (CTL) production, is expected to reduce the need for imports over the longer term.
Source: Energy Information Administration
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