US Dependency On Foreign Oil Importation
By: Miguel Angel Reveles
First imagine a perfect world in
which gas prices dropped to a jaw dropping
price of $0.50. Now step back and look at
the world we live in today, and what do we
see? Insane gas prices that are as high as
$6.00 a gallon. If you are like most
Americans you probably spend a lot of
money at the gas pump, so you are probably
wondering,
what should
be done to fix
this. The
answer is
simple, it
calls for a
change in
policy, the foreign importation policy that is.
The United States of America should stop
the importation of petroleum from foreign
oil producing countries, because it will
lower gas prices that we see at the pump,
and will reduce the US’s participations in
foreign conflicts. A big step, yes, but it
would be a great leap in creating a better
economy.
Gas prices will definitely drop
because gasoline producers don’t have to
pay such a high price to import the oil
anymore, since the oil wells are already
here. Big oil companies that exist in foreign
lands sell the US their oil by barrels. As of
February of 2013 the US imported, “86,629”
OPEC nations and, “171,949” from nonOPEC nations (www.EIA.gov). These
numbers are in thousands per unit meaning
we purchased a whole lot of oil, from
foreign nations. Any one barrel can go for a
little over $100.00 each, although that might
not sound like much, if you import 171,949
and pay a $100 dollars each, then you have a
pretty large bill. If oil consumers here in the
US stop importing oil like they do now, they
don’t have to spend so much in imports, and
in turn, they don’t have to raise the gas
prices like we see today thus reducing the
overall gas prices all over the nation.
If we no longer import foreign oil,
we will stop seeing the US involving itself
in foreign nations like we have seen before
with countries such as Libya and Iraq.
Clifford Krauss a writer for The New York
Times comments, “American companies
like Hess, ConocoPhillips and Marathon
also made deals with the Qaddafi regime,
although the United States relies on Libya
for less than 1 percent of its
imports.”(Krauss 2011) With these oil
contracts, the US is able to put its foot in the
door when it comes to Libya’s oil reserves,
however during the conflict that we saw in
2011, the US felt it necessary to appeal to
the Libyan rebels in order to receive oil in
turn. The US did install anti aircraft
batteries, and
warships off the
Libyan coast so
as to prevent
Qaddafi from
destroying the
rebel forces. As anyone can see, the US
involved itself in a foreign conflict, and used
our nation’s resources in order to secure
foreign oil imports. This simple intervention
charged the US tax payers hundreds of
millions of dollars and all for oil. If we stop
importing oil, we will not have to intervene
or conflict ourselves with foreign nations
just to secure oil lines.
Oil is one of the most essential
commodities that this nation uses, and
although we produce it, we still import it in
great numbers, and this needs to stop. If we
simply say no to foreign oil, much like kids
do to drugs, we can achieve much more than
we would while importing it. The nation
should move to change the policy, in which
the US is no longer allowed to import raw,
crude, and unrefined petroleum from foreign
nations. If we
can complete
this action, then
US citizens will
not have to pay
so much at oil
pumps, and the
US would see much more peace time, and
make friendlier alliances with foreign
nations. The economy, is already in
shambles as it is, if we stop buying foreign
oil we will be seeing great changes all
around our nation, and overall, we would
probably be much happier and unified.
References
-United States Energy Information Administration (2013) U.S. Imports by Country of Origin. Retrieved
From: http://www.eia.gov/dnav/pet/pet_move_impcus_a2_nus_ep00_im0_mbbl_m.htm
-Soldier and Little Boy Photo. Retrieved from: http://rt.com/files/news/libya-nato-civilian-deaths323/loyalist-spokesman-sirte-ntc.si.jpg
-Gas Pump Photo. Retrieved From: http://business.inquirer.net/files/2011/03/c2fb3-oil-prices.jpg
Krauss, C. (2011) The Scramble for Access to Libya’s Oil Wealth Begins. Retrieved from:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/23/business/global/the-scramble-for-access-to-libyas-oil-wealthbegins.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0
Ocean Oil Rig Photo: Retrieved From: http://s.ngm.com/2008/06/siberian-oil/img/world-oil-615.jpg