just talking about foreign oil has nothing to do with what WE pay at the pump... a lot of that goes to commercial use. if you look at the gas stations that purchase from the middle east the main ones are
shell
chevron
amoco
exxon mobil
texaco
marathon
conoco
vallero is all owned by mexican companies and companies like bp, citgo, sunoco and phillips buy their oil from canada and mexio
so the majority of the oil that WE consume does come from the middle east.
Actually, the majority of the oil that we consume comes from North America.
http://www.theoildrum.com/node/3887
2007
0. Domestic Production 40% of total or ~ 2,130.91/ million barrels
Foreign Production ~ 60%
1. Canada 680.533 million barrels (total for the year)
2. Saudi Arabia 530.245
3. Mexico 514.48
4. Venezuela 419.841
5. Nigeria 394.856
6. Angola 181.215
7. Iraq 177.009
8. Algeria 161.755
9. Ecuador 72.138
10. Kuwait 64.306
Total Consumption ~ 5,327 Million barrels
Approximate Percentages (Running Total %)
0. Domestic Production - 40% (40%)
1. Canada - 12.7% (52.7%)
2. Saudi Arabia - 9.9% (63.6%)
3. Mexico - 9.6% (73.2%)
4. Venezuela - 7.8% (81%)
5. Nigeria - 7.4% (88.4%)
6. Angola - 3.4% (91.8%)
7. Iraq - 3.3% (95.1%)
8. Algeria - 3.0% (98.1%)
9. Ecuador - 1.3% (99.4%)
10. Kuwait - 1.2% (100.6%)
Of course, the numbers are slightly off, (too high, especially the first, which is probably more like 38% or less when you account for additional sources of foreign crude, but essentially what the above means is that 60% of our Oil comes from North America, with an additional 8.6% coming from South America, and the Balance from Africa, and the Middle East.
Which is very roughly 20 - 25%.
While I do agree that the massive outflux of dollars is not good for our economy, I am less concerned with dollars which go to Mexico and Canada which are then returned to purchase Capital Goods, then the dollars that go to countries like Kuwait and Saudi Arabia where they are used to purchase giant stakes in our corporations, and thus tie our countries even closer to theirs.
Based on the stakes that some of the sovereign wealth funds from the Middle East have in our corporations I'm wary about what will happen should the U.S. Successfully roll over to a Hydrogen Economy. More than likely such a move will trigger a giant decline in the stock market as the Middle East sells their stakes in our companies to attempt to keep their countries afloat.
Though as the quantity of oil consumed domestically decreases the share that is produced and consumed here as a percentage is going to rise, because the overall pie is shrinking, leading to less imports from other countries.
As far as Mexico's and Saudi Arabia's swapping positions that may be reversed, as I think I read a news article stating that Mexico had authorized their oil company to hire outside corporations to help them develop a field.
Then there's Brazil with its giant elephant that may also emerge as a larger exporter (it's actually 11th in size of exports to the United States).
I can agree with the need to have more alternatives to oil, but I think that we just need more alternatives. Let people who want to drive Mustangs drive Mustangs, and people who want to drive Ugly Cars like the Honda Fit drive that. Though you can rest assured that if Ford produced a Hydrogen Fueled Mustang that matched the current performance of its vehicle that's the vehicle I would want.
With regards to PHEVs and EVs, I fail to see how those are the solution, because all they do is move the pollution from Point A (The Tailpipe) to Point B (A Smoke Stack.)
Hardly a long term viable solution.
