More Stupid
I don't really care much about oil prices, but know many people do. For a subject that gets so much of the American public's, media's and government's time and attention there is a frightening amount of misinformation. As an example. take the following question: Where does most petroleum consumed in the United States come from? I'm willing to bet that few Americans could correctly name more than two of the top five international suppliers of US crude.
See how well you do.
Canada - 2.4million barrels per day
Mexico - 1.6m bpd
Saudi Arabia - 1.4m bpd
Venezuela - 1.4m bpd
Nigeria - 1.1m bpd
Algeria - 722k bpd
Angola - 556k bpd
Iraq - 475k bpd
Russia - 417k bpd
Virgin Islands - 327k bpd
Of course my question was deliberately flawed, since the largest supplies of US petroleum come from domestic production. Next time someone whines about going to war (yes, war is bad; yes, current US involvement in Iraq is of questionable value) over oil you should kick them. Or ask when we're going to assassinate Chavez, Yar'Adua, and Bouteflika.
See how well you do.
Rank the following from greatest to least in terms of oil exported to the United States year-to-date:
Saudi Arabia
Algeria
Iraq
Virgin Islands
Kuwait
Venezuela
France
Canada
Nigeria
Angola
Mexico
Russia
Iran
Saudi Arabia
Algeria
Iraq
Virgin Islands
Kuwait
Venezuela
France
Canada
Nigeria
Angola
Mexico
Russia
Iran
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Determine your list before you scroll down.
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According to the US Department of Energy as of July '07, the largest exporters of petroleum to the United States are:
Canada - 2.4million barrels per day
Mexico - 1.6m bpd
Saudi Arabia - 1.4m bpd
Venezuela - 1.4m bpd
Nigeria - 1.1m bpd
Algeria - 722k bpd
Angola - 556k bpd
Iraq - 475k bpd
Russia - 417k bpd
Virgin Islands - 327k bpd
Of course my question was deliberately flawed, since the largest supplies of US petroleum come from domestic production. Next time someone whines about going to war (yes, war is bad; yes, current US involvement in Iraq is of questionable value) over oil you should kick them. Or ask when we're going to assassinate Chavez, Yar'Adua, and Bouteflika.
3 Comments:
Good post and one that more Americans should understand. It is probably worth mentioning that U.S. consumption alone doesn't determine oil/gasoline prices. If something were to happen to prevent the free flow of Middle Eastern oil, which happens to have about 2/3 of proven global oil reserves, then not only would the price of oil in the U.S. rise, but the global economy would be in a world of hurt, as so much depends on oil.
So yes, I believe going to war over oil in the Middle East is justified in order to protect U.S. economic interests. However, I don't think that this war was ever truly about oil, but more about regime change and democratization, with some personal issues thrown in for good measure.
Ah c'mon. You mean the Bush's really don't like the Hussein's? I thought that was all just media hype.
Or just foreclose on Canada.
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