Which country does the U.S. get the most oil from?

north america

 

North America.

 

Anyone can go to the US DOE web site and google for the answer. It's not like millions of people don't already know the answer.

 

based on the polls results, we aint doing so hot so apparently this post isnt as unneeded as one might think

 

It my be the cynic in me, but my guess is that this will eventually become a "We get over 75% of our oil from North and South America, so what are we doing in the Middle East?"

So, in anticipation of that result, I shall ask the question: "The NorthEast US gets it's gasoline from east coast refineries, so why did the price go up when the gulf coast refineries went offline from the hurricanes?"

And I shall answer it with: "Because the east coast refineries started selling some of their gasoline to the areas served by the gulf coast refineries, thereby creating shortages on the east coast."

Now, apply this knowledge to the world oil supply and ask yourself what would happen to North and South American oil if Middle East oil production is disrupted.

Again, maybe it is the cynic in me and I've misguaged where this thread is headed.

 

I thought the readers of this forum would be better informed.

IMHO, there are two correct answers to this question. The country I chose is the one that is #1 year to date. The other correct answer is the country that was #1 in the most recent month for which there is data. They're both very close though, less than one half of 1% difference in August.

 

And what do you think would be accomplished by eliminating US imports of Middle East oil?

It's not like we would care less about what is happening in the Middle East. It doesn't matter whether we actually purchase Middle East oil or not. Events in the Middle East would effect the price of oil and our economy anyhow.

For example... We get very small percentage of oil from Russia. Yet Russia is the 2nd largest oil producer behind Saudi Arabia. What do you think would happen to the price of oil in the US and world wide if political instability in Russia halted oil exports from that country?

Mexico, Venezuela, and Canada would start selling oil to the highest bidder, which would be the countries that previously imported from Russia but are now left without a major source.

 

I'd argue that the US would be the highest bidder regardless of where the disruption occurred. We've got the money and the (pathetic) dependency to match. Most other countries simply couldn't afford to pay what we'd be willing to. That, of course, might open another can of worms so we'd really have to think about it. I doubt that we would.

 

No problem.

A common belief is that we get most of our oil from the Middle East. Likewise, it's commonly believed that we care about what goes on in the Middle East because we import so much oil from them. The first belief feeds into the second one.

So when I saw your attempt to dispel the first belief, it seemed that it was going to naturally shift to the second belief.

As your poll is alluding to, we actually import only a small percentage of our oil from the Middle East. However, even if we didn't import any Middle East oil, we would still care about what goes on there, because what happens to the Middle East, happens to the world oil market.

 

You are undoubtably right. And that was actually the point. The disruption of any major oil producer is going to raise our oil prices, regardless of whether or not we import oil from that producer.

 

Of course, if they did that, they'd be wreck themselves in the process as they'd make their own trillion dollar investment almost worthless.

 

Good lord - it ain't that our oil comes from a different set of foreign suppliers than most people think, it's that ALL our oil comes from foreign suppliers!

Oil is the lifeblood of the U.S. economy, and we depend on the shifting sands of international diplomacy and commerce for every drop.

That's considerably more of a "Hey, Wake UP!" than who the suppliers happen to be at the moment.

Mark Baird
Alameda CA (San Francisco area)

 

Not true. International supply and demand impact what we pay for oil in the US (or any other country that PC users might be from), but it is not true that "ALL our oil comes from foreign suppliers." -- at least in the US.

In fact, for California, where you and I both apparently live, the breakdown goes as follows:

California oil: 41.9%
Alaskan oil: 21.7%
Foreign oil: 36.4%

See http://www.energy.ca.gov/oil/refineries.html

Not only is 63.6% of oil used in California refineries actually from the US, but more than 40% of it is pumped within the state. As others have said, though, world markets dictate the price, no matter where it comes from.

 

actually this question has come up before when someone stated erroneously that the middle east was responsible for over half our oil. actually WE are responsible for half our oil although some reports have stated that this year maybe the year that imports exceed 50% of our consumption.

have not really heard any definite numbers yet this year only estimates and the numbers varied widely.

 

They were right, you are wrong (second sentence above). Unless you think "we" includes Canada and Mexico.

Like I said, all you have to do is go to the DOE web site and get the actual numbers.

Domestic production only supplied 1/3rd of the total crude oil consumed in the USA. That was true last year and this year.

 

well its from 2003... the post i mentioned was more than a year ago...at that time the 4 largest in order were

Canada
Venezuala
Saudi arabia
Mexico