Where Does The United States Get Their Oil From?
The United States is the biggest consumer of oil in the world. Okay, so where does the United States get their oil from? The answer may well surprise you.
The United States consumes roughly 25 percent of all the resources in the world. This is no different when it comes to oil, although the percentage is a bit less. The country consumes roughly 19 million barrels of oil each day. The total oil usage in the world is about 84 million barrels a day, but should start growing much quicker as China and India convert into full blown first world countries.
So, how does the US feed its never ending need for oil? Well, it should be noted that the country was actually the original Saudi Arabia of the world. It was the biggest oil producer and exporter in the world during the 1960s until oil production peaked in 1972 and then started dropping. Today, however, the country still produces roughly 8 million barrels from its own lands to meet demand. This includes the fields in Alaska and throughout the continental land mass of the country.
As far as importing oil, the Middle East is not the biggest supplier to the country. No, it used to be Mexico, but that country has seen its oil reserves heavily depleted. As of 2010, Canada is the biggest importer of oil into the United States. Canada has traditional oil fields, but is really known for absolutely huge oil shale fields. As long as prices stay high enough to make processing this oil economical, Canada should remain the biggest importer for the foreseeable future.
So, what other countries send oil to the United States? Well, the next big importer is still Mexico. Nigeria comes in third place. It is only when we get to the fourth position that we find Saudi Arabia at about 886,000 barrels a day. Despite the political conflict between the countries, Venezuela is the fifth biggest importer. In sixth is Algeria followed by Iraq, Angola, Brazil, Columbia, Russia, Kuwait, Azerbaijan, Congo and Ecudor.
This list is often a big eye opener for people. The view that we rely heavily on the Middle East for oil is only partially correct. It is really the neighbors of the country that are the key to supplying America's unending thirst for the black gold necessary to make society function.