How much does the US Spend on Importing Oil?

[ecodad]

One of the reasons we purchased the initial Camry Hybrid and later the Ford C-Max hybrid was to reduce the amount of gasoline (oil) we consume personally and as part of the nation. 

 

As an energy geek, I love looking at data and one thing I could not find in numerous searches online was how much the US spent each year importing oil to fuel our cars, heat our homes, etc.  I expect many of my fellow hybrid drivers would be as shocked as I was to learn that in 2012, as a nation, the US spent $433 billion dollars on imported oil.

 

I show my calculations and data sources behind the calculation on my blog at:

http://www.greenlifestylechanges.com/how-much-did-the-us-spend-on-imported-oil-in-2012/

 

I originally did the calculation for 2011 and have now repeated them for 2012.

 

Let me know what reaction you have to learning this number?  How would you best describe how much money that is to others?

[lowbar]

The sad part is the US does not need to import all this oil.  We could be self sustaining but chose not to be.  We need to drill on US soil.  Obviously we need to do it in an environmentally conscious way.  We have the technology to do that.

[valkraider]

There is no environmentally conscious way to drill for oil. If you think there is, may we drill in your yard?

 

Also - oil is fungible. It doesn't matter where the drilling occurs, the only way to solve the problem is to stop using it all together.

[lowbar]

There is no environmentally conscious way to drill for oil. If you think there is, may we drill in your yard?

 

Also - oil is fungible. It doesn't matter where the drilling occurs, the only way to solve the problem is to stop using it all together.

 

oh sir, we disagree to a great extent.  Burn your Valkyrie and never ride it again.  We can extract the oil within US soil. 

We need to us the resources God gave us.  To ignore our natural resources is a sin.  

Edited March 26, 2013 by lowbar

[ArizonaEnergi]

I flipflop between thinking we should get as much oil as we can from other countries while preserving our own for bad times, and developing our own and eliminating use of Middle East oil, although I think we would still need Canadian and Mexican oil.  Right now I'm in favor of job growth here so I'm in favor of more production in the US.

 

Oil has made modern civilization, and will continue to be essential for hundreds of years, but I am doing my part to advance battery vehicles by being an early adopter of the Energi.  (Although I wonder if my great grandfather drove an electric car.  Could have!)

[zhackwyatt]

Does anyone know what we use oil for?  Broken down by %?

I mean oil is more than just fuel, it's in plastics as well.  We can never be 100% off oil.

[valkraider]

Lowbar: to be that ignorant is a sin.

 

You never answered my question, but instead dodged it and spouted off magical mumbo jumbo.

 

Can we drill for oil in your yard?

 

One step further, lets drill for, extract, and refine the oil right at your house - if it's so environmentally friendly.

 

Or do you just like destroying someone else's soil, water, air, and over-all health?

 

Also - explain to me how we can "disagree" about the mathematical fact that oil is fungible?

 

Arizona: why does job growth have to be in a finite and dirty energy source? Why can't we grow jobs in renewable and cleaner energy?

 

Lets save the oil for durable plastic production and stop burning it out our tailpipes or wasting it on disposable crap...

 

Did you see the news about the electricity producing bacteria?

 

If we dumped 400billlion dollars a year into domestic renewables we would be off oil in a decade.

 

Also - American soldiers don't die securing wind turbines in the great planes or solar farms in the southwest...

 

I don't have a Valkyrie. I sold it 10 years ago, but wish I had kept it. Best bike ever. The bike in my profile pic is a Triumph. As soon as someone builds a good electric cruiser I will ride it too... :)

[ArizonaEnergi]

I have to say I'm really enjoying my coal-powered Energi!  I only wish it were nuclear powered as I think fewer coal plants would be a good thing.  (Reduce the real source of CO-2, and save that fuel for future needs.)

 

But I've worked next to a large oil refinery, I've been on drilling rigs, I've been in coal-fired electric plants, and everyone I know have driven oil powered cars, and I don't think its a dirty fuel.  I like it.  I like the energy it contains, and all the benefits its provided humans, and I don't see it getting replaced by alternatives in my lifetime, or for many, many generations.

 

I would like to see France and China protecting their source of oil though, and get us out of there!  I'm in with that.

[zhackwyatt]

I have to say I'm really enjoying my coal-powered Energi!  I only wish it were nuclear powered as I think fewer coal plants would be a good thing.  (Reduce the real source of CO-2, and save that fuel for future needs.)

 

But I've worked next to a large oil refinery, I've been on drilling rigs, I've been in coal-fired electric plants, and everyone I know have driven oil powered cars, and I don't think its a dirty fuel.  I like it.  I like the energy it contains, and all the benefits its provided humans, and I don't see it getting replaced by alternatives in my lifetime, or for many, many generations.

 

I would like to see France and China protecting their source of oil though, and get us out of there!  I'm in with that.

I was born and raised in a town whose entire economy was based on oil.  It too had a refinery in it, and my dad supported us with it, by working in the fields for over 20 years.

[lowbar]

 

 

Edited March 27, 2013 by lowbar

[lowbar]

Can we drill for oil in your yard?

 

If you find oil in my yard I'll sell you the rights.

[MikeB]

The sad part is the US does not need to import all this oil.  We could be self sustaining but chose not to be.  We need to drill on US soil.  Obviously we need to do it in an environmentally conscious way.  We have the technology to do that.

This is completely false. The US has roughly 3% of world oil reserves, and consumes around 30% of all oil production. Additional drilling on US soil can't possibly make up for that imbalance. If we exploited every single drop of oil available in Alaska today, we'd be self-sufficient for something like 9 months, then Alaska would be empty. And that assumes that we could build enough wells to pull 50 years of production out of the ground in a single year. Domestic oil production has actually risen significantly over the last 4 years, and it hasn't even put a dent in oil prices, or even significantly altered the level of imports.

 

And if you attempted to increase the number of wells a hundred-fold, you're going to increase the number of spills by an even higher factor. All the easy oil has been found and extracted. Now we are looking for the hard stuff: deep underwater or extremely thick and trapped tightly within rock. And the harder it is to get the oil out of the rock, the more likely it is that we'll mess up and spill it on the ground, or in the water. Sure, the technology for drilling has gotten better and made difficult oil possible to extract, but the financial consequences of failure have not risen significantly. An oil company can do $50 billion dollars of damage to the Gulf, and escape with a fine of 1/10th that amount. So they have no financial incentive to put safety and the environment first.

 

And then, of course, you run into the problem that carbon-dioxide is going to destroy our entire agricultural system. The laws of thermodynamics are never wrong, and there is a fundamental imbalance of heat arriving and departing at the top of the atmosphere. Unless the three laws of thermodynamics don't apply to the planet Earth, we're getting warmer at a rate never before seen in this planet's history. And that rate is too fast for plants and animals to adapt to, so it's going to cause an ecological disaster. And when ecology collapses, so does agriculture. If we burn all possible oil in the ground, we're absolutely guaranteeing a planetary warming of something more than 10F, which would essentially end agriculture in the US and most of Europe, not to mention China and India. We'd have to import food, probably take it by force. And that's when it gets nasty.

[lowbar]

http://abcnews.go.com/Business/american-oil-find-holds-oil-opec/story?id=17536852#.UVMxGZOG1CY

[plus 3 golfer]

Enough said. :)

 

[ArizonaEnergi]

This is completely false. The US has roughly 3% of world oil reserves, and consumes around 30% of all oil production.

 

When I see that comparison it always makes me shake my head.  The two numbers are not linked.  If we had 100% of the world oil reserves, and consumed 30% of all oil production does that mean we'll run out in 3.3 years?  No, because the size of "world oil reserves" and "oil production" are not specfied.   Plus, as pointed out above, the oil reserves number is bogus.

 

Frankly, I'm glad we consume so much oil as that makes us a prosperous, modern country with a high standard of living.  I've seen how many in Africa and elsewhere live with little oil, and frankly I don't want to live like that and I'm glad I don't.

 

BTW, the largest oil spill in US history, far, far bigger than Deepwater Horizon, is virtually unknown today and there is no evidence, other than an historical marker, that it ever happened.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lakeview_Gusher

Edited March 27, 2013 by ArizonaEnergi

[ecodad]

Mostly for energy.  In 2010, we used 2.7% of total petroleum consumed in the US for the manufacture of plastics.  Source: http://www.eia.gov/tools/faqs/faq.cfm?id=34&t=6

 

For a breakdown on how we use oil, check out the data from EIA at http://www.eia.gov/dnav/pet/pet_cons_psup_dc_nus_mbbl_a.htm

 

Does anyone know what we use oil for?  Broken down by %?

I mean oil is more than just fuel, it's in plastics as well.  We can never be 100% off oil.

[plus 3 golfer]

Looks like the thread TOPIC may be moot in a decade. :)  How many are old enough to remember the "gas lines" in 1973?  After 40 years are we seeing the light at the end of the tunnel?

 

... the United States is reaping the benefits of an energy boom created by new drilling technologies that have unlocked vast domestic oil and natural gas reserves. Coupled with decreasing demand due to energy efficiency and continued cultivation of alternative energy sources, an increasing number of experts believe the U.S. could achieve energy independence by the end of the decade – realizing a dream born during the gas crisis of 1973.

Edited April 1, 2013 by Plus 3 Golfer

[valkraider]

Arkansas oil spill

 

When there is a solar spill it's called "a nice day".

 

(When there is a wind spill we call it "New Mexico")

[zhackwyatt]

Arkansas oil spill

 

When there is a solar spill it's called "a nice day".

 

(When there is a wind spill we call it "New Mexico")

After growing up in New Mexico, I can definitely vouch for that.