“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

Imagine you own a widget factory and you can make 20 widgets a day, which is more than any other widget factory can make in a day.

Now imagine that each day you need to use 23 widgets.

While you make more widgets than anyone, you’re still left with a daily 3 widget gap, so each day – despite making more widgets than anyone else- you need to purchase 3 widgets to meet your needs.