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
the first step to understanding is to know that not all crude oil is the same. the crude from Saudi is typically heavier (more long chain carbons) and sour (presence of hydrogen sulfide). the crude from the US is typically lighter (more short chain carbons) and sweet (not as much hydrogen sulfide).
our refineries were designed to process the heavy crude from places like Saudi bc they were built back in the day where our domestic crude oil production was minimal and we actually imported most of our crude oil. Since that time, the US upstream side of O&G has boomed (eg fracking) and the US now produces a ton of light crude oil (called West Texas crude). however, bc some refineries run most cost efficiently when processing heavy crude, operating companies will opt to import the heavy crude and export the light crude. by processing heavy crude, the refinery can run more oil per day and easily covers the cost of exporting and importing.
the other side of the issue is what product is most needed in the US. while gasoline is the face of O&G consumerism, it’s actually diesel that dominates the US market. you can extract more diesel out of heavier crude by virtue of diesel being heavier than gasoline. so that means the refineries can make even more money that way
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