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

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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

43 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

Let’s imagine 3 companies.

Company 1 has been in business a long time. It’s made alot of money. It’s invested in its infrastructure. It pumps the oil out, refines it, and sells it to consumers. It gets a big return on investment. It does it continually.

Company 2 has been in business a long time too. But it didn’t invest as much into its infrastructure. It doesn’t have refineries. It pumps oil out. It sells the crude to whoever is willing to buy it. They don’t care where the buyer is located, even if it’s a foreign investor or company.

Company 3 is newer. It doesn’t want to pay what company 2 is asking for their oil, but it found a company out in South America that’ll sell it cheap. So they get it from there.

It helps to remember that it’s different companies with different business operations. Top exporters of oil include ExxonMobil, Conoco Phillips, Chevron, Marathon, and more. Top importers include BP, Sunoco, Shell, and more.

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