know your oil facts

Submitted by Rick House (United States), Mar 11, 2007 at 04:57

1. The UK exports oil and natural gas.

2. Primarily, US imports of oil and natural gas come from Mexico, Venezula, Nigeria, and Canada.

3. Most Middle East oil exports go to Asia (Japan and China), the subcontient, the Med states, Africa, and Western Europe -- and yes, to the United States, which gets about 10 to 15 percent of our imported oil from there. However, we do not directly purchase oil from Iran, Iraq, Libya, or Yemen. For the most part, our direct Middle East purchases come from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, UAE, and Oman -- some very good allies, the former two provide staging areas for land operations in Iraq, while the latter two support naval operations for the Persian Gulf and the Horn of Africa.

4. Most petrodollar investments are in Europe and the United States... Most Middle East countries are too conservative to invest in China, Southeast Asia, the subcontinent, or Africa.

5. While it is true we have reached a reserve peak in the world oil supply, it is not true that oil production is on the decline. Most energy analysts see a continuation of production upwards for one to two generations (30 to 40 years). Price fluxuations in the US are mostly due to the shrinking refinery capacity.

6. Most of the reported oil related wrongdoings by European individuals and countries were in the spot market, which only represents a small part of the total oil market. (Western Europe's apparent distraction and handoff approach to the Middle East stems from its efforts to integrating and modernize Eastern Europe. Many Europeans view this situation as more pressing than hunting down terrorists. )

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