Oil it’s the one of the main sources of energy in America. The price of oil influences the price we pay for gasoline, a leading factor in how Americans spend the rest of their money. As the price of gasoline goes up Americans travel less, go out to eat less, and shop less. As important as oil and gasoline are to the American life there’s confusion on where the resources comes from. According to a University of Texas poll 58% of Americans think the majority of our oil comes from Saudi Arabia.
The reality is much different. 28% of our oil comes from Canada, 16% from Saudi Arabia, 11% from Mexico, 11% from Venezuela, 6% from Iraq, and 1% from Russia according to data published by the USA Energy Information Administration. Just looking at the numbers we can see that our oil supply is far more evenly distributed than many tend to believe.
Since the price of gasoline and the source of oil tend to be sensitive subjects we created a map of the world to help you better understand where the USA gets it’s oil. This map shows how the world would look if the size and shape of countries were determined by the amount of oil we import using the net import figures from the EIA’s 2014 data set.
With North and South America being the leaders in the oil production we can understand why the change in oil and gas prices have decreased. So can we thank the boom of energy production here in North America? Analyst have pointed out that the U.S. is producing more oil domestically while reducing its dependence on oil in general.
The trend of energy independence from the middle east is likely to continue. The EIA put out a report that showed U.S. oil production is so high this year that only 40% of the oil Americans use currently is imported. The other 60% is domestically produced, the highest figure in 80 years. The country has become more energy efficient by building cars with better gas mileage and shifting away from oil-based energy.
Don Redman, American Automobile Associate, explains the shift:
“There’s been a philosophical change in OPEC and particularly in Saudi Arabia, which for decades had been focused on price and wanting to maintain certain prices. For the past several years, they’ve wanted to maintain a price of $100 a barrel for oil. Saudi Arabia had a philosophical change this year that they were more concerned about market share than price. That’s when you saw the price of crude tumbling from $100-110 per barrel down to $40 a barrel or thereabout.”
AAA forecast that holiday traveling will increase this year than last. Instead of staying in this holiday season, we recommend taking advantage of this year fallen gas prices and enjoy the open roads and scenic views of this great country as you go off to grandma’s house.
