Where Our Oil Imports Come From

Following the theme of the previous post on where we get our gasoline imports, below is the list of our Top 10 sources of oil imports for 2007.

For 2007, our Top 10 importers of crude oil into the U.S. in million barrels were:

1. Canada 680.533 million barrels
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

Source: U.S. Crude Imports by Country of Origin

If you compare to the list for gasoline imports, Canada is the only country common to both lists (although “OPEC Countries” in total came in at #10). Any surprises on that list? I am surprised to see Ecuador in the Top 10. I would have thought Brazil would have come in higher than Ecuador (Brazil was 11th). For me, it was also noteworthy that Mexico and Saudia Arabia swapped places in 2007.

Total OPEC imports in 2007 were 1.97 billion barrels. Total non-OPEC imports were 1.69 billion barrels. Consider how dependent we are on oil, how oil prices have run up, and the resulting massive transfer of wealth out of the U.S. and into other countries.

This is a big reason that I am pessimistic about the U.S. economy recovering any time soon. A lot of discretionary income is disappearing from American pockets and ending up flowing into the hands of oil exporters. An obvious solution is to do more business with these oil producers, and offer them something of value that will pull more of that money back. (I am also basing many of my personal finance decisions based on the premise that this trend will continue).