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Home Front: Politix
Obama calls for deep cuts in US oil imports
2011-04-01
[Arab News] President Barack B.O. Obama set an ambitious goal on Wednesday to cut US oil imports by a third over 10 years, focusing on a source of anxiety for Americans as high gasoline prices threaten economic recovery.

Obama outlined his strategy in a speech after spending days explaining US-led military action in Libya, where fighting, accompanied by unrest elsewhere in the Arab world, has helped push US gasoline prices toward $4 a gallon.

"There are no quick fixes. And we will keep on being a victim to shifts in the oil market until we get serious about a long-term policy for secure, affordable energy," Obama said in remarks prepared for delivery.
Does that mean "drill, baby, drill," or does it mean we'll all get green, renewable energy in the sweet by and by but we'll cut oil imports now?
The Democratic president says the country, which relies on imported oil for roughly half of its daily needs, must increase its energy independence to improve national security.

But previous presidents have made similar promises on energy security and failed. And any new policy initiatives can expect tough opposition from Republicans who control the House of Representatives and see high energy prices as a vote-winner in the 2012 presidential and congressional elections.

"Today, I'm setting a new goal: One that is reasonable, achievable, and necessary," Obama said. "When I was elected to this office, America imported 11 million barrels of oil a day. By a little more than a decade from now, we will have cut that by one-third."

Republicans have mocked the idea of Obama curbing oil imports a week after visiting Brazil, where he said the United states wanted to be a good customer for its oil exports.

Obama laid out four areas to help reach his target of curbing US dependence on foreign oil: Lifting domestic energy production, encouraging the use of more natural gas in vehicles like city buses, making cars and trucks more efficient, and encouraging biofuels.

"We cannot keep going from shock to trance on the issue of energy security, rushing to propose action when gas prices rise, then hitting the snooze button when they fall again," he said.

Analysts and experts said Obama's goal is ambitious.

"All US presidents since the early 1970s have outlined ambitious plans to reduce their reliance on imported oil," said John Sfakianakis, chief economist at the Banque Saudi Fransi.

Truly reforming US energy use would involve sweeping changes, including possible fuel taxes to encourage Americans to change their habits, analysts said.

While polls show Americans have mixed feelings about getting entangled in a third Mohammedan country, with the United States still engaged in Iraq and Afghanistan, they are clearly worried by high gas prices before the summer driving season.
Posted by:Fred

#23  It's about 70%.

Transportation is about 70% of oil consumption.
Posted by: Zebulon Thranter9685   2011-04-01 18:47  

#22  Unless you made a law to that effect, you're more likely to see imports from Canada decline while the imports from the Middle East remain as strong as ever.

Canadian production goes to the US because all the pipelines go south. It's captive production. Canada would like to increase the southern pipeline capacity so they can increase production. The beauty of Gov. Palin's Alaska-Canada-US gas pipeline proposal was to siphon some of the natural gas, upgrade a lot more Canadian bitumen to crude, and ship both down to the US. Unfortunately Red Barry's resistance to that may force Canadians to build a western pipeline to the coast. I'm sure the Chinese would be more than willing to fund it.

I also see you believe in the fiction that oil production from Venezuela has remained stable. It hasn't, it's declined a lot, it's just not reflected in the official statistics.

Venezuelan oil production has stabilized in the past year according to the US DOE. The downside for the US that Chavez will seek to divert more and more exports to China. The current limitation is the Panama canal. If a pipeline is built to the west coast (Bolivia, Columbia?) all bets are off.

Venezuela's standard of living would be a lot higher if their production were anywhere near official statistics given the massive increase in price over the past decade. Instead there aren't any groceries on the shelves.

Even that blockhead has figured out that empty store shelves will lead to revolution faster than the corruption of his cronies. He's even making nice faces toward Columbia, the source of much of Venezuela's food.

Zebulon: do you have a plan to make sure the gas that isn't imported isn't imported from the Middle East?

You've stumbled upon the solution. Import taxes in mideast oil commensurate w/ the our expenditures to keep the supply open for the world. The US spends at least $200 billion in direct military expenditures in Muslim lands. Add in the massive intel and homeland security costs to keep Muslims from blowing up airlines, skyscrapers, crowds and the cost is closer to $400 billion/year. All that from 1.7M bbl/day (600M bbls/year). That's for less than 10% of US oil consumption. Americans are already paying a security cost of $330 to $660 per barrel of Mideast oil. Cut that off and Americans will be much better off.

It's my understanding that about half of our oil consumption goes towards making petroleum-based things

It's about 70%. "Gasoline" including ethanol comsumption is near 9M bbls/day, 8.3M minus the ethanol. The ethanol fraction is increasing every year by 20-25%. The rest is mostly diesel and jet fuel.
Posted by: Zebulon Thranter9685   2011-04-01 18:40  

#21  Looking at AH9418's links, it looks like I was wrong. By far the majority goes towards transportation.
Posted by: gorb   2011-04-01 16:22  

#20   Where this all connects to Rantburg's principal interest: The US and world economies are linked tightly. Both depend on a certain level of supply and pricing for oil imported from Jihadi sympathizers. Without that link, 9/11 would not have happened (no money to pay for it!). If that link were to be substantially altered, the War on Terror would then be conducted quite differently.
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418   2011-04-01 15:06  

#19   This issue keeps coming up over & over again. Rantburg needs a 'sticky' post on this to keep the info & links in one spot. For example, which country is the #1 producer of crude oil (in 2009?) Click here for the answer. Which country is the #3 producer of crude oil? Click here. How much oil did the US consume in 2009? Click here. In the most recent year, what %-age of US oil consumption went to make plastics & resins? Click here. What %-age of US crude oil consumption goes into making gasoline for vehicles? Click here, but you'll have to do the calculations for yourself, even the EIA doesn't bother.
Cheap & abundant energy of some sort is key to economic growth. When energy gets expensive or rationed, the economy will suffer. Part of the reason for our current economic stagnation is the high cost of energy. I am not enough of an economist to sort out the role played by high energy costs from the role played by the collapsed credit superbubble.
Certainly the goal of the Greenies and the radical Dems is the strangulation of the economies of the US & the West.
However, there is a lot more going on under heaven & earth than is dreamt of by Obama & his ilk. Obama is by no means responsible for our 'economic nosedive' although what little he has done in that field has not improved things and perhaps only made them worse (see actions by Turbo Tax Timmy and non-actions by Eric 'Place' Holder). The US economy is on death's door, and none of our [spit] distinguished leaders are really interested in doing much of anything about it. Obama's calls for 'deep cuts in US oil imports' is as useful as micturating into a hurricane.
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418   2011-04-01 14:56  

#18  It's my understanding that about half of our oil consumption goes towards making petroleum-based things, like tupperware and vaseline and what-not. The other half is fuel of some sort. I don't know if it's heating fuel or fuel for transportation.
Posted by: gorb   2011-04-01 13:42  

#17  Zebulon: do you have a plan to make sure the gas that isn't imported isn't imported from the Middle East?

Unless you made a law to that effect, you're more likely to see imports from Canada decline while the imports from the Middle East remain as strong as ever.

I also see you believe in the fiction that oil production from Venezuela has remained stable. It hasn't, it's declined a lot, it's just not reflected in the official statistics.

Venezuela's standard of living would be a lot higher if their production were anywhere near official statistics given the massive increase in price over the past decade. Instead there aren't any groceries on the shelves.
Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain   2011-04-01 12:18  

#16  It doesn't matter, HE would NEVER pay for that Gas.
Posted by: Redneck Jim   2011-04-01 11:49  

#15  1. US gasoline demand in 2009 was 8.3M bbl/day.
2. US oil imports in Jan 2011 from the Middle East was 1.7M bbl/day.

To replace the entire Mideast oil imports, the average fuel economy of passenger vehicles needs to be raised by 25%, from 21 to 26mpg. New cars already average 33mpg and new light trucks average 25mpg. Speed the process along by making it expensive to buy under 20mpg very large vehicles like the Ford Excursion and the replacement cycle will take care of Mideast imports in 10 years as long as the US can keep other sources stable (cough Venezuela). Speed it further along by encouraging consumers to buy cars instead of trucks and SUVs (currently 50-50%).
Posted by: Zebulon Thranter9685   2011-04-01 11:48  

#14  Obama's war on America continues.
He, like most democrats thinks the whole country is like the cities they live in. They obviously have never driven across this vast nation in a car.
Posted by: newc   2011-04-01 11:37  

#13  "When I was elected to this office, America imported 11 million barrels of oil a day. By a little more than a decade from now, we will have cut that by one-third."

Then the economy took a nosedive. Now, a little over two years later, America imports around 9 million barrels of oil a day. So not only is Obama well on his way to meeting his goal - he has a blueprint for success. And you thought his "energy independence" meant Green technolgy. pshaww
Posted by: DepotGuy   2011-04-01 11:28  

#12  Then simply tax border crossings.
/BigGov
Posted by: swksvolFF   2011-04-01 11:15  

#11  JohnQC: $hit, we will all be riding Chinese bicycles, eating like the North Koreans, and paying carbon credits for breathing if these a$sholes have their way.

You got two things wrong. First, A$sholes is spelled @$$holes. Second, I'm sure there will be a select few of us who will not have to live this way ....
Posted by: gorb   2011-04-01 10:38  

#10  Today's WSJ

The Secret to Brazil's Energy Success

...Brazil has gone from importing 77% of its oil from foreign sources in 1980 to importing no oil by 2009. A great success story in conservation and alternative energy? Not really. Total Brazilian oil consumption still more than doubled.

The biggest factor is that Brazil increased its domestic oil production over the last two decades by 876% (not a typo). Most of that production has come from offshore exploration.
Posted by: Beavis   2011-04-01 10:08  

#9  It's going to get more entertaining in a hurry. Corporate estimates for fuel prices are running from $5.50 to $6/gal by the end of July. Note: in border States, PEMEX prices will probably be half that, so the border crossings will be jammed.
Posted by: Anonymoose   2011-04-01 10:00  

#8  I think that a certain high price of gasoline and diesel will be the tipping point of this administration. So called green energy will not solve our energy issues. It will take time and a plan with gradual change as alternative energy systems mature. Taxing will not do anything but pi$$ people off and kill the economy (the latter of which is probably the Plan™ in the beginning).
Posted by: Alaska Paul   2011-04-01 09:58  

#7  He really wants to be a one term president if he keeps this up. Even here in CA, people are starting to blame him for the higher gas prices.
Posted by: DarthVader   2011-04-01 09:23  

#6  $hit, we will all be riding Chinese bicycles, eating like the North Koreans, and paying carbon credits for breathing if these a$sholes have their way.
Posted by: JohnQC   2011-04-01 09:14  

#5  As designed JohnQC.

Just as Obama, Soros, and company designed it to work in order to bring America down.
Posted by: CrazyFool   2011-04-01 08:59  

#4  I'm seeing higher gasoline prices and taxes in our future and thus higher costs for all goods and services.
Posted by: JohnQC   2011-04-01 08:54  

#3  Does that mean "drill, baby, drill," or does it mean we'll all get green, renewable energy in the sweet by and by but we'll cut oil imports now?

I *think* it means a move to natural-gas-burning autos. At least, that's the only thing that makes sense, seeing as he's done everything but bomb our oil derricks to shut down domestic oil production.

Hmm, maybe I shouldn't be giving them ideas...
Posted by: Mitch H.   2011-04-01 08:31  

#2  "Bitterly clinging to their Bibles, their guns, and their cars."
Posted by: g(r)omgoru   2011-04-01 03:52  

#1  Truly reforming US energy use would involve sweeping changes, including possible fuel taxes to encourage Americans to change their habits, analysts said.

Who could have possibly seen this coming?
Posted by: Besoeker   2011-04-01 01:35  

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