A post on the conservative blog Big Peace falsely claimed that President Obama is “making us more dependent on foreign oil.” However, statistics from the U.S. Energy Information Administration show that imports have declined faster than domestic production in the past several years, and current projections show that our dependence on foreign oil will continue to decrease through 2035.
QUICK FACT: Big Peace Falsely Claims Obama Is “Making Us More Dependent On Foreign Oil”
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Big Peace: “Obama Making Us More Dependent on Foreign Oil”
Big Peace Claims Obama Increasing U.S. Dependence On Foreign Oil. A March 3 post on Andrew Breitbart's blog Big Peace claimed that Obama is “making us more dependent on foreign oil.” From the post:
Is the Middle East the only reason gasoline prices are rising and how much damage will they do to our economy?
Gasoline and diesel prices are going up. That is a certain. The issue is how high is high and how long is long? Why?
Expectations of political instability in the North Africa and the Middle East are factors which cause the price of crude oil to rise, but the reality is the Obama Administration is doing serious damage to our essential domestic oil industry. The Administration is making our nation more and more dependent on imported foreign crude oil through increased regulations, taxes, and litigation.
The Obama Administration has in effect shut down exploration and drilling off the Atlantic, Pacific, Alaskan, and Eastern Gulf of Mexico coasts. The EPA is studying restrictions on shale oil and gas fracing. The Administration is also planning massive tax increases on “Big Oil,” which is owned by many little stockholders and service individual consumers. Under the Obama Administration prepare for much higher fuel costs. Our nation is highly dependent on foreign crude oil, in the range of 60% of our crude oil is imported. [Big Peace, 03/03/11]
But EIA Says Imports Have Declined And Project They Will Continue To Decline
EIA Brief Shows Net Imports Declined More Than Domestic Production In Past Few Years. A November 29, 2010, brief from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), titled, “How dependent are we on foreign oil?” shows that U.S. imports of petroleum have been decreasing in the past few years, and that imports have decreased faster than domestic production. The following graph was included in the brief:
[EIA, 11/29/10]
EIA: Lower U.S. Petroleum Imports Expected In the Future. The EIA also projected that “U.S. petroleum import dependence [will fall] from 51% in 2009 to 45% by 2035.” From the brief:
Lower U.S. Petroleum Imports Expected in the Future
The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) projects that net imports of U.S. crude oil and petroleum products will slightly increase from 9.7 MMbd in 2009 to 10.0 MMbd in 2035.2 Following decreases during the period 2006-2009, total U.S. liquid fuels consumption is expected to increase steadily through 2035 driven primarily by an increase in biofuels. Meanwhile, the increase in U.S. crude oil production in the Gulf of Mexico and elsewhere, combined with increasing biofuel and coal-to-liquids (CTL) production and decreasing petroleum-derived fuel demand, is expected to reduce the need for imports over the longer term. U.S. petroleum import dependence falls from 51% in 2009 to 45% by 2035 in EIA's reference case projection. [EIA, 11/29/10]