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
Most countries in the world that can refine oil can only refine light sweet crude (short hydrocarbon chain, low sulfur content). Since demand for this type of oil is high, it’s more expensive than heavy sour crude.
The US is one of only a handful of countries capable of refining the heavy sour stuff, so they can buy it at a reduced price, refine it, then either use it or sell it off.
Tangent; this is one of the reasons Venezuela’s economy is in such rough shape. They have a ton of oil, but it’s the undesirable heavy sour oil so they can’t sell it to many nations. The US would gladly buy it, but Chavez and Maduro kept going out of their way to antagonize what should’ve been their biggest trading partner
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