“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

A lot of it is that there are different types of oil.

In ELI 5 terms, imagine the US makes peanut oil but imports olive oil. We have more peanut oil than we need, so we sell it. And we don’t make any olive oil, so we buy it.

Sure, they’re both “oil”, but they’re different kinds.

There’s other nuances to this too, but at its most simplified version, that’s the best explanation.