The State of the Union address last night, along iwth Bush wanting to cut 75% of our Middle East oil consumption, got me to looking around.
Seems that while the perception is that Middle Eastern oil imports represent upwards of 50% of our total oil consumption, this is not exactly true.
Middle East/Persian Gulf imports have rarely represented over 14% of demand (consumption) over the last 24 years. Oil imports from the Middle East/Persian Gulf have hit 28% of total oil imports into the U.S. over the last 24 years and were at 18/8% of imports for the first 10 months of 2005. (Note: OPEC does NOT equal Middle East since OPEC includes such places as Venezuela, Nigeria, etc.)
Now, reducing our "dependence" on imported oil is great, and is something we DO need to do.....but focusing on Middle Eastern oil, which represents such a small fraction of our total imports (we import much more from N. American countries, Mexico and Canada, than from Persian Gulf countries) that it seems to me that the current administration is trying to rally the troops with the implied tie-in to Middle Eastern terrorism with Persian Gulf oil.
In 2005, out of the top 10 countries we imported from, only two were Persian Gulf countries.....Saudi Arabia and Iraq. The rest were N. American, S. American, African, Russia, UK.
So, cuttting 75% of 11.2% of consumption would seem to be a rather small drop in the bucket.........why not focus on our real suppliers, Canada, Mexico, Venezuela, Nigeria.....???
Jan-Oct 2005 oil import figures from DOE.
Chart, in bottom of page, of 1982-2003 US imports of Persian Gulf oil as percentage of consumption/demand and as percentage of total imports.
Seems that while the perception is that Middle Eastern oil imports represent upwards of 50% of our total oil consumption, this is not exactly true.
Middle East/Persian Gulf imports have rarely represented over 14% of demand (consumption) over the last 24 years. Oil imports from the Middle East/Persian Gulf have hit 28% of total oil imports into the U.S. over the last 24 years and were at 18/8% of imports for the first 10 months of 2005. (Note: OPEC does NOT equal Middle East since OPEC includes such places as Venezuela, Nigeria, etc.)
Now, reducing our "dependence" on imported oil is great, and is something we DO need to do.....but focusing on Middle Eastern oil, which represents such a small fraction of our total imports (we import much more from N. American countries, Mexico and Canada, than from Persian Gulf countries) that it seems to me that the current administration is trying to rally the troops with the implied tie-in to Middle Eastern terrorism with Persian Gulf oil.
In 2005, out of the top 10 countries we imported from, only two were Persian Gulf countries.....Saudi Arabia and Iraq. The rest were N. American, S. American, African, Russia, UK.
So, cuttting 75% of 11.2% of consumption would seem to be a rather small drop in the bucket.........why not focus on our real suppliers, Canada, Mexico, Venezuela, Nigeria.....???
Jan-Oct 2005 oil import figures from DOE.
Chart, in bottom of page, of 1982-2003 US imports of Persian Gulf oil as percentage of consumption/demand and as percentage of total imports.
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