why do we import so much oil when we have unused reserves in the U.S.?
366329
Reserves are to be used in case of a supply interruption.\n\nOil reserves are 22 Billion \nWe use 20 Million bbl/day\nWe produce 7.6 Million bbl/day
33784
Most likely the U.S. We have thousands of oil wells offshore,that are just drilled and capped off.Tens of thousands on dry land.And we've never touched Alaska,it has more than the rest of the U.S. combined.
598452
Been out of the industry for a little while now so cant give you precise figures, but what I can tell you is that North Sea crude is pretty much specialised and is virtually all exported.\n\nThe UK exchequer sells our crude for more than we pay to import generally.\n\nIt is not the type of crude which lends itself to petrol production either.\n\nIt was also pretty badly drilled at the time which means that whilst there is actually quite a lot left, most of it will be to difficult and expensive to be extracted, so the supply is diminishing quickly.
1085223
It is in our national interest (because of the geographical size of our country) to either increase the available supply of petroleum or develop alternative fuel sources. The former may only be a temporary solution, but the latter will take time and resources and may invite retaliation in the form of extremely high petroleum prices while we attempt to retool our energy using and producing systems.
760786
Geopolitically the industrialized world is totally dependant on oil from the Middle East.  There is no industrialized nation that does not have in their national interest the seeking of a guarantee that there must be an uninterrupted flow of oil into their nation.  They all hover around the Middle East like moths to a light, ever manipulating, bribing, arming, trading, selling technology, whatever it takes, to buddy up with the Sheiks.  Use simple "rule out" and you find there are many countries with worse dictators and political systems around the world that we have not, or would ever consider invading to "set those people free."  It is  only because there is oil in Iraq that we even know where they are on the map!  It is hard, but it is true.
500382
Your mistake is basic: you're presuming that the oil in the ground belongs to America.  It doesn't.  It belongs to ExxonMobil, BP, etc.  Think they'd want to lower profits to benefit us?  HAHAHAHAHAHAHA
409632
Oil is non-renewable.  So it will run out but NOBODY knows when.
1010324
I don’t see why it is so difficult for people to understand that entering Iraq had nothing to do with oil.  Just looking at the known oil reserves within the control of North America, then adding to that know deposits of shale oil, then adding to that the known deposits of sand oil in Canada, then looking at the known reserves of oil in South America, we have enough oil to exceed 200 years or more of demand.  We have enough coal reserves (which can be converted into a form of crude oil) to cover at least 200 years from that resource.  None of this takes into consideration oil developed from renewable biomass, or ethanol or hydrogen generated from renewable biomass or wind powered electrical generation.  The fact is the Americas do not need oil from other parts of the world for at least 500 years.\n\nIn addition, oil from Iraq to the United States was very small if any at all prior to the war, and there is none now coming from Iraq and none required after the war.
1073624
55 gal...no, we're not running out anytime soon. Just be prepared for european style prices until people start carpooling to work and trading in hummers/SUV's.\n\nChina & India are buying crude/crude futures like crazy. Nigeria & Argentina aren't producing to capacity. Katrina damaged a lot of US rigs in the Gulf of Mexico. \n\nWe still produce around half of the crude(which we turn to gas) we use daily. We also have "strategic reserves" of crude which we keep for things like wars but use when supplies get tight.\n\nSo we either reduce our demand, pay higher prices, or start drilling in Alaska and off our coast. I carpool with a coworker in a Miata. S*rew those OPEC countries- conserve!!!!
318704
Only if you are the country that is sanctioned. over all the world economy is able to absorb enough of the lost produces.  well except when it comes to Oil.
386333
some of it is necessary since the PEC nations are not sending us as much oil as before, but i'd say most is gouging. The easiest way to convince lawmakers would be to vote them out of office in the next elections. if they know their seat will be replaced if they don't solve the problem, im pretty sure we will see more action on their part.
664578
Convince the usa government that theres vast amounts of oil to be had
286834
No. There was just lots of oil that a "few" Americans wanted.
676011
oil not gasoline. according to this blogger, yes\n\nSen. Ron Wyden, D-Oregon, is demanding that the Commerce Department release detailed reports on which companies are exporting U.S. oil, how much and where it went.\n\nLast year the nation exported 268 million barrels of oil. Shockingly, according to Dept. of Energy figures, that's about equal to the amount of oil we imported from Iraq in 2001, the year before our latest war with that country began. It's also about equal to the most optimistic guesses about production volume from ANWR, if drilling is allowed there.\n\nIn other words, if we simply held onto our own oil, the United States would have no oil interest in Iraq at all. And it would also negate any perceived need to disturb an irreplaceable wildlife refuge in the search for oil.\n\nBut the Commerce Department refused to provide the detail Wyden wants, saying it could only be released to a Congressional committee, not an individual representative. The agency also claims federal law forbids disclosure unless a finding is made that withholding the information contradicts national interests. That sounds like hogwash to me.\n\nWyden's request is of significant interest for two more reasons. First, it is likely that if oil drilling is approved in ANWR, much of that oil will be exported to Asia rather than sold in the U.S. Secondly, the more obvious reason is that every motorist and politician who can warm a chair is concerned about the nation's growing dependence on imported oil. It would seem to contradict our economic and political interests to worsen this imbalance by selling off our own supplies.\n\nIn a letter sent Monday to Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez, Wyden demanded release of the information, calling it "directly relevant to the coming Congressional debate on how to address our nation's dependence on imports of oil and other petroleum products."\n\nI'd call that an understatement. But Wyden faces an uphill battle to get a committee to demand the numbers. Though Wyden is a member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, it and all other Congressional committees are controlled by Republicans. And as we've seen, Republicans these days aren't very interested in facts, especially if those facts contradict their agenda.
229410
Everything in life has a limit. There's only so much petroleum in the world, as well as resources. If you don't save or recycle them, then your future relatives will have a rough time living. It's vital to save resources.
876114
And there are some in the Caribbean as well. These are just small countries that have petrochemical reserves and use them for the most part to produce products for export to developed countries. So really the developed countries are the ones indirectly responsible for the relative large emissions of these small countries, and maybe the CO2 emitted in producing the finished product should count against the importing country.
892243
Maybe I am just being naive but it would seem to me that if it was about oil that we would have a lot more troops over there protecting the pipelines. I mean wouldn't that make sense?