Wouldn’t it make most economic sense to just sell to our own countries in that case if there’s some standardized barrel price?
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Trading in oil helps stabilize the price. Although the US is not part of OPEC, our trade accomplishes the same goal. By keeping oil prices relatively the same across the globe, we have the ability to import when we need more.
In addition, production and demand aren’t always equal. Oil producers and refiners often produce oil that can’t be quickly distributed, so they auction it off. At the same time, oil demand might be higher than what is in production at that time, so we import. By having a steady flow of import and export, we are able to manage our supply as needed for demand.
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