Forget The Arabs. Let’s Worry About The Canadians.
By Justin Gardner | Related entries in Foreign Policy, Technology, The WorldDean Esmay points out a very important fact: most of the U.S.’s oil doesn’t come from Arab countries. In fact, the lion’s share comes from our friendly neighbors to the north, Canada.
From the Department of Energy:
Total Imports of Petroleum
Top 15 Countries
(Thousand Barrels per Day)Country………YTD 2005
CANADA……….2,116
MEXICO……….1,657
SAUDI ARABIA *..1,594
VENEZUELA…….1,575
NIGERIA*………1,127
IRAQ *…………534
ALGERIA………..484
ANGOLA…………432
RUSSIA…………422
UNITED KINGDOM….384
VIRGIN ISLANDS….322
ECUADOR………..288
KUWAIT *……….208
COLOMBIA……….191
BRAZIL…………140Total imports: 11,474
Total Arab (Saudi Arabia, Algeria, Iraq, and Libya): 2,820
Percent of Arab oil: 24.6%
Percent non-Arab: 75.4%
Interesting numbers to say the very least, and it’s certainly news to me that our North American compatriots supply us the most crude.
So what will it take to ween us off of the Saudian Arabian teet? More hybrid tech (it’s coming)? Lower oil consumption (yeah right)? Higher taxes on oil (political suicide)?
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October 18th, 2005 at 10:24 am
Tuesday Numbers
From the Department of Energy: Total Imports of Petroleum Top 15 Countries (Thousand Barrels per Day) Country………YTD 2005 CANADA……….2,116 MEXICO……….1,657 SAUDI ARABIA *..1,594 VENEZUELA…….1,575 NIGERIA*………1,127 IRAQ *…… 
October 18th, 2005 at 4:12 pm
Overall, the top suppliers of oil to the United States during 2002 were:
Canada (1.9 MMBD)
Saudi Arabia (1.6 MMBD)
Mexico (1.5 MMBD)
Venezuela (1.4 MMBD).
Frankly, I’d almost rather get it from the Saudis, if the goal was purely ensuring a stable supply that we won’t be blackmailed with. Canada, Mexico, and Venezuela all have a tendency to be governed by parties and factions that historically draw a lot of their popular clout from rubbing America’s nose in the dirt. They’re as bad as France and Germany in that regard.
Consider the recent AP story headlined Canada uses China’s oil thirst as leverage in trade dispute with U.S. over lumber
Canada can just turn around and sell to China and cut us off, and they’re perfectly willing to talk openly in those terms.
“Now that the U.S. sees China poking its nose around Canada’s oil sands, we have the White House’s attention,” one Canadian expert crowed.
If they’re willing to play the China card now over a relatively minor matter like a lumber tariff, what will happen down the road?
Note, though, that though Canada is the leading supplier of crude and refined oil products to the United States, it provides only 10 percent of the oil consumed by Americans each year.
A second point is, America is a lot less reliant right now on Persian Gulf oil than are the other major industrialized regions of the world — our competitors in Europe and Asia.
Asia now takes over 40% of Saudi Arabia’s crude oil exports, as well as the majority of its refined petroleum product exports. The United States is Saudi Arabia’s second largest oil export market, followed by OECD Europe. During 2002, Saudi Arabia’s share of U.S. crude oil imports was 16.8%, down from 17.3% during 2001. OECD Europe got 30% of its oil imports from Persian Gulf sources (2.406 MMBD).
So in expending American lives and resources to ensure the flow of Middle Eastern oil, we subsidize the economies of nations that not only compete against American economic interests, they mock and disdain the American military efforts that keep the oil flowing. Hypocrites.