An explanation. The U.S. Department of Energy reports in 2012 the U.S. consumed 18.64 million barrels a day of crude oil and petroleum products while producing 6.49 million barrels a day of crude oil domestically and importing an additional 8.49 million barrels per day. OPEC was responsible for 4.019 million barrels per day of the crude oil imported into the United States. Top among the OPEC countries is Saudi Arabia at 1.356 million barrels per day; Iraq: 474,000 barrels per day; and Venezuela: 906,000 barrels per day (47%). Among Non-OPEC countries are Canada, which exported 2.408 million barrels per day (28%) to the United States in 2012, and Mexico, which exported 972,000 barrels per day to the United States (12%). Overseas imports (anything outside of North America) totaled 5.561 million barrels per day.
How did Consumer Energy Alliance determine a reduction in U.S. overseas crude oil imports by 43%?
If the Keystone XL pipeline imports 730,000 barrels a day of Canadian crude, U.S. crude oil imports from Canada would rise to 3.138 million barrels of crude oil a day by 2015. According to the U.S. Department of Energy “Energy Outlook,” in 2015 the United States will consume 19.46 million barrels of fuel per day while producing 11.43 million barrels per day and importing 7.27 million barrels per day of crude oil. If Keystone XL were built, by 2015 Canada could export upwards of 3.138 million barrels per day to the United States. Non-Canadian imports will fall to approximately 4.132 million barrels per day. If one assumes Mexican crude oil exports to the United States will remain relatively static over the next three years, then North American crude imports to the United Stats rise to 4.11 million barrels per day and overseas imports will fall to 3.16 million barrels per day. As such, Keystone XL will help lower the demand for overseas crude oil imports from 5.56 million barrels per day to 3.16 million barrels a day – a decline of 43% between 2012 and 2015.
