Oil Imports

Many people have a vested interest in the Iraq outcome. Religion, oil, Israel, and geo politics all play a part. I'm writing about oil as a reason to go to Iraq.

How important is it that we control the oil in Iraq? I think it would help our economy in the future if the outcome is a positive one. I don't believe Iraqi oil is necessary for our economy. Of course, the American economy is so regulated it is difficult to call it free enterprise. Still the economy would adjust without Iraqi oil. I calculate about 3% of U. S. oil consumption comes from Iraq. The people in Malibu and Santa Barbara would rather buy oil from the radical Muslims than see an oil rig on the horizon.

Still we go to war and kill thousands so we can drive our cars and kill 43,000 Americans here in traffic accidents. We want energy so we can have an oak desk shipped 3,000 miles across country by truck! Yes, we need energy, but do we need Iraq's oil that badly? If someone else buys their oil that will mean other suppliers will have more to sell to us. We import twice as much oil from Venezuela, another U. S. enemy, than Iraq. They want our money as much as we want their oil.

The one thing we don't hear much about is trading oil in dollars. Saddam was threatening to sell oil in Euros. According to this article Saddam started selling oil in Euros in November 2000, the same month George Bush was elected President. Could it be Saddam was after revenge for the past 7 years of sanctions and being driven out of Kuwait? http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Iraq/Iraq_dollar_vs_euro.html
OPEC was/is required to sell oil in dollars. If OPEC or Venezuela decides to sell oil in another currency that will weaken the dollar drastically.

The United States economic policies, since President Nixon took us off the gold standard, has weakened the dollar. The $500 billion debt for the Vietnam war and other binge borrowing and spending has contributed to the weakened dollar. If OPEC decided to sell oil in another currency you would likely see the U. S. economy go into a severe recession.

However, if you have the largest military the world has ever seen, there is no reason to have a sound economic policy that creates a favorable balance of trade and a strong dollar to buy oil. You can just use force and take the oil.

Bilbo Baggins


http://www.eia.doe.gov/pub/oil_gas/petroleum/data_publications/company_level_imports/current/import.html

August 2006 Import Highlights: Released on October 17, 2006
Preliminary monthly data on the origins of crude oil imports in August 2006 has been released and it shows that two countries have each exported more than 1.65 million barrels per day to the United States. Including those countries, a total of four countries exported over 1.00 million barrels per day of crude oil to the United States (see table below). The top five exporting countries accounted for 67 percent of United States crude oil imports in August while the top ten sources accounted for approximately 87 percent of all U.S. crude oil imports. The top sources of US crude oil imports for August were Canada (1.850 million barrels per day), Mexico (1.652 million barrels per day), Saudi Arabia (1.477 million barrels per day), Venezuela (1.151 million barrels per day), and Nigeria (0.898 million barrels per day). The rest of the top ten sources, in order, were Iraq (0.620 million barrels per day), Angola (0.525 million barrels per day), Algeria (0.506 million barrels per day), Ecuador (0.285 million barrels per day), and Brazil (0.196 million barrels per day). Total crude oil imports averaged 10.537 million barrels per day in August, which is an increase of 0.384 million barrels per day from July 2006.

Canada remained the largest exporter of total petroleum products in July, exporting 2.464 million barrels per day to the United States. The second largest exporter of total petroleum products was Mexico once again (1.757 million barrels per day) which was a slight increase from last month of 0.048 million barrels per day.

Crude Oil Imports (Top 15 Countries)
(Thousand Barrels per Day)
Country Aug-06 Jul-06 YTD 2006 Aug-05 Jan - Aug 2005


CANADA 1,850 1,624 1,756 1,596 1,595
MEXICO 1,652 1,561 1,661 1,630 1,574
SAUDI ARABIA 1,477 1,264 1,409 1,444 1,518
VENEZUELA 1,151 1,191 1,160 1,332 1,340
NIGERIA 898 1,014 1,071 1,053 1,065
IRAQ 620 592 5 62 369 545
ANGOLA 525 666 485 585 429
ALGERIA 506 413 339 330 229
ECUADOR 285 170 267 292 280
BRAZIL 196 187 130 127 93
RUSSIA 167 134 107 72 246
KUWAIT 136 155 159 208 209
COLOMBIA 125 144 160 208 155
CHAD 122 73 84 91 82
NORWAY 108 160 99 59 124

Total Imports of Petroleum (Top 15 Countries)
(Thousand Barrels per Day)
Country Aug-06 Jul-06 YTD 2006 Aug-05 Jan - Aug 2005

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CANADA 2,464 2,114 2,277 2,085 2,127
MEXICO 1,757 1,709 1,780 1,745 1,682
SAUDI ARABIA 1,514 1,313 1,451 1,589 1,607
VENEZUELA 1,438 1,467 1,453 1,601 1,617
NIGERIA 1,026 1,073 1,152 1,112 1,153
ALGERIA 803 743 631 610 487
IRAQ 620 592 562 369 548
ANGOLA 544 695 506 609 440
RUSSIA 484 425 366 237 441
VIRGIN ISLANDS 377 353 314 299 323
BRAZIL 311 279 194 226 140
ECUADOR 292 181 274 297 289
UNITED KINGDOM 262 340 290 442 392
NETHERLANDS 259 196 195 108 126
NORWAY 255 236 207 131 231