"Crude Facts -Demand grows,
production slows"
Crude oil is traded on a world market. The U.S. leads the world's global oil demand followed by China, Japan, and India. (The average American consumes about ten times as much oil as the average Chinese.) The cost of oil will rise as global demand increases. Higher prices will benefit the "petro-states" whether the U.S. is buying from them or not. The U.S. doesn't buy Iranian oil but a $1 increase in oil prices provides the Iranian government an additional $1.5 billion annually.
The International Energy Agency notes the, "U.S. remains vulnerable to Middle East oil disruptions though U.S. dependence on Middle East oil has fallen sharply...but since oil is a global market, the relevant measure for that vulnerability is not the U.S. dependence but world dependence on Middle East oil - and that has not shrunk."
The U.S. produces approximately 8 million barrels of oil per day (10% of the world's daily crude oil production.) The U.S. consumes approximately 20 million barrels of oil daily. The U.S. represents 4.5 % of the world's population yet consumes 25% of the world's oil per day.
Most are surprised to learn that the country from which the U.S. imports the greatest amount of oil is Canada followed by Mexico and Saudi Arabia. (It has been estimated Mexico's primary oil reserves will be depleted by 2019.) Other countries from which the U.S. imports oil (in descending order of amount) include: Nigeria, Venezuela, Iraq, Angola, Brazil, Algeria, Columbia, Ecuador, Russia, Virgin Islands, Kuwait, United Kingdom, and Argentina.
The bulk of proven remaining oil reserves are located in the Middle East. The amount of oil in the Middle East far outstrips what is available anywhere else on earth. The U.S. has only 2% of the world's oil reserves.
Oil is a limited resource. The U.S needs to prepare for a coming oil price crunch caused by increasing global demand and decreasing global production. The U.S. cannot produce its way out of the supply-demand gap. "Drill, baby, drill" is misguided and futile. And, our allies cannot fill this supply gap.
The safest, least expensive, and fastest path to energy security is to implement oil saving measures.
To reduce our oil dependence we should focus on transportation since 70% of our oil use is for transportation.
We should:
• Continue to make vehicles significantly more fuel efficient. (China's fuel economy standards are more efficient than those in the U.S.)
• Aggressively develop electric and plug in hybrid vehicles.
• Develop cleaner, alternative non-oil based fuels.
• Invest in public transportation to provide practical, accessible, economical alternatives to driving.
Richard O. Schwab
was formerly associate head of school and middle school head, Cincinnati Country Day School. He is also neighborhood team leader, Glendale Organizing For America Community Team (www.gofact.blogspot.com) He lives in Glendale.
