# How much oil does the US get from Middle Eastern countries?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-oil-does-the-us-get-from-middle-eastern-countries/127215>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [September 6, 2002, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-oil-does-the-us-get-from-middle-eastern-countries/127215 "2002-09-06T00:38:08Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\
**Post date:** [September 6, 2002, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-oil-does-the-us-get-from-middle-eastern-countries/127215/1 "2002-09-06T00:38:08Z")

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Just a few questions about the US’ dependancy on foreign oil:

1. How much comes from Middle Eastern countries?

2. Could we get that much from other sources (even if it means drilling in Alaska)?

3. If we stopped buying the oil from Middle Eastern countries, how devastating would it be to the US economy (gas prices, heating oil, etc)?

4. What percentage of Middle Eastern oil is sold to the US?

This is not an attempt to start a debate of any kind, just wanna knows some numbers. I Googled as best I could and found answers to #1 as high as 62%.

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**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\
**Post date:** [September 6, 2002, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-oil-does-the-us-get-from-middle-eastern-countries/127215/2 "2002-09-06T00:58:36Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Mr. Blue Sky \*  
> Just a few questions about the US’ dependancy on foreign oil:

Very simple, do a bit of research. 5 seconds to go to EIA. [http://www.eia.doe.gov/neic/quickfacts/quickoil.html](http://www.eia.doe.gov/neic/quickfacts/quickoil.html)

> [@](#):
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> 1. How much comes from Middle Eastern countries?

I don’t feel like holding hands, but to give you an idea of magnitude (lightly edited from above):

> [@](#):
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> U.S. Crude Oil Production 5,801,000 Barrels per Day (bpd)  
> U.S. Crude Oil Imports 9,328,000 bpd  
> U.S. Crude Oil Imports from OPEC 4,787,000 bpd  
> Top U.S. Crude Oil Supplier Saudi Arabia - 1,610,000 bpd  
> U.S. Petroleum Product Imports 2,473,000 bpd  
> U.S. Petroleum Product Imports from OPEC 660,000 bpd  
> Top U.S. Total Petroleum Supplier Canada - 1,786,000 bpd  
> U.S. Total Petroleum Exports 971,000 bpd  
> U.S. Net Petroleum Imports 10,900,000 bpd  
> U.S. Petroleum Consumptiona 19,649,000 bpd  
> Dependence on Net Petroleum Imports 54.3%

Note substantial percentage of OPEC imports are Venezuela. Not a substantial improvement over the Mid-East in many respects.

US proven reserves are declining and are higher extraction cost than existing proven reserves in other areas.

> [@](#):
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> 1. Could we get that much from other sources (even if it means drilling in Alaska)?

No.

> [@](#):
>
> 1. If we stopped buying the oil from Middle Eastern countries, how devastating would it be to the US economy (gas prices, heating oil, etc)?

Petrol is a global commodity. Total demand (excepting some near term barriers due to refinery set up / optimization) is what counts. Saudis btw sell at a discount to the US in order to keep market share on the (correct) belief that most folks are too economically illiterate to understand the dynamics of the market.

US btw is the largest single market, our demand is the single largest component. Think that through.

> [@](#):
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> 1. What percentage of Middle Eastern oil is sold to the US?

Small percentage, the issue however is the global market and total demand, not what % is directly sold. This is one of the most well-developed and liquid commodity markets around.

> [@](#):
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> This is not an attempt to start a debate of any kind, just wanna knows some numbers. I Googled as best I could and found answers to #1 as high as 62%.

Sounds like it might be right. Go to the International Energy Agency for further information and data, although the DOE site is quite rich as well.