"Petroleum is the most important fossil fuel in the modern industrial world" (Craig, 2001). Petroleum, a base for many types of fuel and lubricants, is nonrenewable resource. One day, we will have no more oil; but until that day comes, earth's inhabitants will have to buy and sell the petroleum that currently exists. .
Some Americans say that the U.S. should be completely self-sufficient, and supply itself with oil from Texas, Alaska, and other areas. However, when one looks at the amount of oil we import from other countries every year, American self-sufficiency seems quite impossible, or at least, improbable. In 1999 alone, the U.S. imported 10551000 barrels of oil from both OPEC and non-OPEC countries (AER, 1999). In 1949, we imported 645000 barrels of oil (AER,1999). North America has only 7.1% of the world's oil resources; split that percentage between the U.S., Canada, and Mexico (Craig, 2001). It is obvious that around 2.5% of the world's oil resources are not enough for the United States. When these facts are scrutinized, it is obvious that the U.S. is unable to become independent from oil-exporting countries. Not only has the oil importing increased, our own oil resources have become more and more depleted. .
There are pro's to the importing of oil, such as being able to leave the Alaskan reserves as the pristine wilderness that it is, instead of drilling for oil there. Manufacturing and drilling costs would be nonexistent, since we merely ship the oil to the United States. However, there are drawbacks to importing petroleum. Importing such a precious resource leaves the U.S. at the mercy of oil exporting countries, such as those in OPEC. This dependency leaves us vulnerable to embargos and ridiculous price increases.
