Reversing recent trends Obama has chosen to endanger Americans by increasing oil imports from his friends in the middle east instead of restoring our own oil capabilities or accessing more oil from friendly neighbor Canada.

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8/28/12, "Obama Policies Making US More Dependent on Persian Gulf Oil," Institute for Energy Research 

"The Obama Administration is touting that our “dependence on foreign oil has gone down every year during the Obama Administration, including a reduction in net oil imports by ten percent—or one million barrels a day—in the last year alone.”[i]  While good news, this trend is happening not because of policies or actions taken by the Obama administration, but because of 1) a poor economy and high oil prices resulting in a lower demand for oil, 2) an increase in oil production on private and state lands (not federal lands)... and 3) an increase in biofuel (mainly ethanol) production....

The bad news is that while we have reduced our dependence on imports, we are getting more dependent on oil imports from the Persian Gulf, particularly Saudi Arabia. During the first five months of this year, oil imports from the Persian Gulf increased by 33 percent compared to the first five months of 2011. This was mainly due to an increase of oil imports from Saudi Arabia of 29 percent. At the same time, our total oil imports fell by 6 percent. Thus, the Persian Gulf’s share of U.S. oil imports is up 6 percentage points—from 15 percent for the first 5 months of last year to 21 percent for the first 5 months of this year—and the share of our oil imports from Saudi Arabia is up 4 percentage points, from 10 percent to 14 percent.[ii]

According to data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA), the United States imported a daily average of almost 1.5 million barrels of Saudi Arabian crude over the first five months of this year, compared to a daily average of about 1.1 million barrels over the same period last year. The corresponding numbers for oil imports from the Persian Gulf oil are an average of 2.2 million barrels per day for the first 5 months of this year compared to 1.7 million barrels per day for the first 5 months of last year.

The increase in oil exports from Saudi Arabia to the United States began slowly last summer and has increased this year. Even though domestic oil production is increasing, the Obama administration is finding it difficult to lower its dependence on Persian Gulf oil, especially the heavy grades of crude oil that Saudi Arabia exports and that our refineries in the Gulf of Mexico use....These are issues that have been caused by the Obama administration. 

First, their moratorium and “permitorium” on offshore drilling after the Macondo accident resulted in 17 percent less oil production in offshore federal waters in fiscal year 2011 than the year before.  Then, their failure to permit the Keystone XL pipeline that would bring heavy crude oil from Canada postponed new supplies from our Northern Ally....

In recent years, U.S. oil imports have been declining due to increased domestic production on private and state lands, production of shale oil using hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling technology, increased production of corn-based ethanol and government mandates requiring its increased usage by refineries, and lower oil demand due to high oil prices and a poor economy.

Before the Macondo accident in the Gulf of Mexico, monthly oil production from the Gulf was as high as 1.71 million barrels a day and growing, but because of the moratorium on new drilling, monthly oil production from the Gulf after the accident was as low as 1.09 million barrels per day with much of that lower oil production being replaced by imports of Saudi crude oil. Oil production from the Gulf is not expected to regain its higher production levels through 2013, according to EIA, whose forecast for offshore Gulf of Mexico oil production for this year and next is averaging about 1.35 million barrels per day.

Actions the Obama Administration Can Take

Approve the Keystone Pipeline.  Four years ago, TransCanada proposed the $7 billion Keystone XL pipeline to bring more oil from Canada to the United States...Reducing our overseas imports of oil should be in our national interest as should be the pipeline’s economic benefits on both sides of the border. For example, its construction is expected create 20,000 jobs and states along the route are projected to receive an additional $5.2 billion in property tax revenue.  U.S. companies are invested in Canadian oil sands and many of our businesses supply goods and services for the oil sands projects in Canada.

Canada has 175 billion barrels of proved oil reserves that can be produced now and moved to U.S. refineries via the Keystone pipeline. If the pipeline had been approved when submitted, more oil could be flowing into this country in the very near future. Canadian oil is a secure oil supply, as Canada is our friend and ally, and largest trading partner.

Open More Federal Lands to Oil Leasing, Drilling and Production. Currently, the federal government leases less than 2.2 percent of federal offshore areas and less than 6 percent of federal onshore lands for oil and natural gas production. Areas that the federal government could open to oil development include:

• 10.4 billion barrels of oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge
•  86 billion barrels of oil in the outer continental shelf of the lower 48 states
• 500 million barrels of oil in the Naval Petroleum Reserve-Alaska
• 25 billion barrels of oil in the outer continental shelf of Alaska
• 90 billion barrels of oil in the geologic provinces north of the Arctic circle
• 982 billion barrels of oil shale in the Green River Formation in Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming

And, as staggering as those numbers are, the truth is that unless we are allowed to look for energy, we will not know the full extent of our resources....

Conclusion

Oil imports from the Persian Gulf have increased significantly this year due to decreased oil production from the federal waters off the Gulf of Mexico, declining production of crude oil in Mexico and Venezuela, lack of pipelines to import more Canadian oil, and the configuration of Gulf Coast refineries to process heavy crude oils. The Obama Administration seems to be untroubled by this direction since it feels it can use the Strategic Petroleum Reserve in the event of a crisis. However, the Obama Administration can take positive steps now by approving the Keystone Pipeline, opening more federal lands to oil production, and creating an environment that promotes oil and gas drilling. Taking those steps, the United States could be almost independent of overseas oil within 15 years."

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