US Oil Imports Hit Record 63% in 2003
Source: Reuters
[Jan 07, 2004]
Crude imports also set a new high in 2003 in number of barrels at 9.6 million barrels per day
NEW YORK (Reuters) - The United States imported a record 63 percent of its oil from foreign sources in 2003, government figures showed Wednesday, and oil analysts said that dependence is likely to rise in the new year.
Crude imports accounted for 62.9 percent of oil run through U.S. refineries, up from the previous record of 61.7 percent in 2001 and from last year's 61.2 percent, the Department of Energy said.
Twenty years ago, foreign crude accounted for only 28 percent of oil used by the United States, the world's biggest consumer -- then and now.
"Our domestic production has been going down in recent years or has stayed relatively flat, but we're running more and more through the refineries every year," said Doug MacIntyre, analyst with the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). The EIA is the statistical arm of the energy department.
"So, where is that crude going to come from? We have to get that from imports," MacIntire said.
Crude imports also set a new high in 2003 in number of barrels at 9.6 million barrels per day (bpd). The amount of crude refined in the United States was also a record at 15.3 million barrels daily, the EIA said.
"Crude imports are going to continue to rise," said George Beranek, oil analyst with the Petroleum Finance Co. based in Washington. "It's just the inevitable result of increasing U.S. oil demand with flat to decreasing domestic supplies."
Sen. Charles Schumer, Democrat from New York, said, "If we don't take measures to stem our reliance on foreign oil, we're going to pay an awful price down the road."
If there were aggressive efforts to increase domestic crude production, if demand stays high, there is little chance of lessening dependence on foreign crude, Beranek said.
He said drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) is not a viable near-term solution to this dependence.
"ANWR is going nowhere anyway," Beranek said, referring to the U.S. Senate quagmire on allowing drilling in ANWR. "Even if it were opened for drilling tomorrow, it wouldn't be producing oil for five years."
The United States just after World War II controlled about 60 percent of the world's proved oil reserves. In terms of production, the United States is still the third-largest in the world behind only Saudi Arabia and Russia, according to the BP annual review of petroleum statistics.
But U.S. demand for oil is about a fourth of the world's total daily production of about 78 million bpd.
The volume of crude imports rose 500,000 bpd in 2003, the EIA said, even as the price of benchmark crude in the United States averaged $31, up 19 percent from a year ago. This is the highest average annual U.S. price for crude since 1982, according to data complied by BP in its annual statistical review.
Instability in Iraq, Venezuela and Nigeria helped boost prices, energy experts said.
"Ultimately, more imports will be needed in 2004 to bring inventories back to levels high enough to relieve some of the price pressures experienced in 2003," the U.S. Department of Energy said in a report.
The biggest importer of crude to the United States, according to the most recent Energy Department data, was Saudi Arabia at an average of 1.76 million bpd.
The next three leading importers were from the Western Hemisphere -- Mexico at 1.57 million bpd, Canada at 1.53 million bpd, and Venezuela at 1.16 million bpd.
The same four nations led in importing crude to the United States in 2002, in order, Saudi Arabia, Mexico, Canada and Venezuela.
Hope Is Not An Investment Strategy!
Remember to do your own DD
AI
