Where does the U.S. get their oil from? This is a good question. I am sure that almost every person reading this has gotten an email saying that we should all boycott one gas station or another, and that will automatically topple Saudi Arabia's oil export industry.
Take a close look at the Department of Energy's website to see what they have to say about this matter, and it turns out that they have some great information about the matter. I guess that I should have thought of this before, but I guess I have been too preoccupied figuring out which gas station I should boycott. They thinking that "most" of our oil comes from the middle east is wrong. Sorry people...keep boycotting Citgo if you must, but I am here to tell you that THESE are the top ten countries that the U.S. imports from:
1. Canada
2. Mexico
3. Saudi Arabia
4. Venezuela
5. Nigeria
6. Angola
7. Iraq
8. Algeria
9. United Kingdom
10. Brazil
According to DOE, "In 2004, United States refineries produced over 90 percent of the gasoline used in the United States. Although the United States is the worlds third largest crude oil producer, less than 40 percent of the crude oil used by U.S. refineries was produced in the United States. Net petroleum imports (imports minus exports) account for 58 percent of our total petroleum consumption. About 50 percent of our petroleum imports are from countries in the Western Hemisphere, with 19 percent from the Persian Gulf, and 18 percent from Africa and 13 percent from other regions".
Okay, can we close this case now? We can boycott all we want, but oil companies can barely keep up with the demand for oil from China and India- countries that are starting to get more automobiles and have budding economies that demand it.
Original Link: http://www.energyrefuge.com/archives/where_oil_comes_from.htm