“Why does the US import so much oil when they are the world’s largest exporter of it?”

Question

I keep hearing over and over that the US imports all of its gasoline and raw petroleum that it used, however when you look at the numbers its the greatest exporter of oil ever. Wouldn’t it make more sense for the US to just take some that they produce and keep it to sell to its own consumers.

In: Economics

Answer 1

Mismatch between what we pump out of the ground vs what we are setup to refine. Refining capacity in US is designed for dirtier crudes from over seas. Would take billions and 10 years to be able to build out new refineries to refine US oil. No company wants to take that risk of building a new billon dollar refinery just to have the entire society finally pivot away from oil before hand. Easier just to sell our oil and buy others.