The terrorist attack on the World Trade Center in 2001 was a devastating day for America’s oil industry. Oil prices skyrocketed and fear was put in America. In his article “Take $10 off the Price of Oil,” Steve Hanke states that from 2001 to 2004 oil prices more than doubled reaching $55 per barrel due to Bush’s order for the government to purchase 700 million barrels of oil that caused prices to rise from storage cost. On top of this, oil prices were high to help preserve the oil supply because the nation was afraid oil imports from the Middle East would come to a halt. The September 11th tragedy was not the only time America suffered with high oil prices. In the 1970s some foreign countries stopped exporting oil, which made America fear an oil shortage if imports stopped. America was and remains too reliant on foreign countries for oil. If America were to suffer through another depression such as the Great Depression, then difficulty to make a descant living would be even more than after the September 11th tragedy.
The September 2001 terrorist attack happened over twelve years ago, and America is still suffering high oil prices. The nation should not still be suffering the consequences of something that happened over twelve years ago. America is paying too much for oil from foreign countries. This drives the gas and diesel prices up at the pump for the people. There are billions of gallons of oil in America’s ground. This does not include offshore oil. The nation could easily become self-reliant on oil. America should stop importing and using oil from foreign nations for the production of fuels in order to benefit American people.
America has many natural resources in the ground such as oil. Unfortunat...
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Energy Crisis (1970’s) states that the crisis officially began when the “Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OAPEC) reduced their petroleum production and proclaimed an embargo on oil shipments to the United States and the Netherlands, the main supporters of Israel.” They did this because of the United States providing support to Israel during the Yom Kippur War (Energy Crisis (1970’s)). Although it “ended in late October, the embargo and limitations on oil production continued, sparking an international energy crisis” (Energy Crisis (1970’s)). The United States presumed that a boycott would damage the Persian Gulf financially, however, because of the rise in the price of oil, it actually helped them (Energy Crisis (1970’s)). The price of oil actually shot from $3 a barrel to $12 a barrel. (Energy Crisis (1970’s)). This produced tremendous lines at gas stations, exorbitant gas prices, and people were told not to put up Christmas lights. Other countries that were affected could only heat one room in the winter (Energy Crisis (1970’s)). The American auto manufactures were injured as well while they were turning out large vehicles, whereas Japanese manufacturers produced tiny fuel- efficient autos (Energy Crisis (1970’s)).
Almost every single nation in our world today, the United States included, is extremely reliant on oil and how much of it we can obtain. Wars have been started between countries vying for control of this valuable natural resource. The United States as a whole has been trying to reduce its reliance on foreign oil and has had some success, especially with the discovery of the Bakken formation and projects like the Keystone Pipeline.
America is dependent on other nations for their ability to create energy. The United States is the world’s largest consumer of oil at 18.49 million barrels of oil per day. And it will continue to be that way for the foreseeable future considering the next largest customer of oil only consumes about 60% of what the U.S. does. This makes the U.S. vulnerable to any instability that may arise in the energy industry. In 2011, the world’s top three oil companies were Saudi Aramco (12%), National Iranian Oil Company (5%), and China National Petroleum Corp (4%). The risk associated with these countries being the top oil producers is twofold. One, they are located half way around the world making it an expensive to transport the product logistically to a desired destination. And two, the U.S. has weak, if not contentious,...
In 1908, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) predicted that the total future supply of U.S. oil would not exceed 23 billion barrels. In 1914, the U.S. Bureau of Mines predicted that only 5.7 billion barrels of oil remained. In 1920, the USGS proclaimed the peak in U.S. oil production was almost reached. In 1939, the Department of Interior declared that there was only 13 years of oil production remaining. In 1977, President Jimmy Carter claimed, “We are now running out of oil.” Despite these predictions, the U.S. has produced over 200 billion barrels of oil since the early 1900’s. (The Futurist, 1997)
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I am a husband and a father of four lovely children. We need a large vehicle to haul all of us around town. And of course I would do anything to keep them safe and I always want to provide them with the best. Therefore, after the birth of our fourth child two and a half years ago, my wife and I decided to upgrade our Ford Explorer to a Ford Expedition. We got everything from the side-curtain airbags to the TV and DVD player. What we did not know was we also purchased a rather large unleaded gas bill. The first time we filled the tank it cost us roughly $35; today it costs us right around $75 to fill the tank. Obviously the price of gas has increased significantly in the last two years. The price increase is due to a fluctuation in the supply and demand of not only gasoline but also crude oil, which is needed to manufacture gasoline. In addition, several other factors are influencing a change in the price of gasoline.
Aside from causing a major shift in geopolitical power, WWII also solidified the integral role oil played politically in national security. However, following the war the United States was no longer the world’s largest oil producer and was unable to maintain self-sufficiency as it had in the past. As a national security imperative oil was more important at this point than ever before. America’s war machine needed to be well oiled in case the new Cold War suddenly turned hot.
The United States has had several scares throughout its history in terms of oil, most turn out to be over exaggerations of a small event. However, these scares highlight a massive issue with the U.S. and that issue is the U.S.’s dependence on foreign oil. Why does it matter that our oil should come from over seas? In a healthy economy this probably wouldn’t be as relevant, but the U.S.’s economy is not exactly healthy at the moment. There are 4 things that I would like to address: what the problem is, how it affects us, what some solutions are, and what solutions I feel are best.
To understand the increase in gas prices, one must first identify the distribution of dollars paid per gallon at the pump. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (eia) in 2010, the annual average paid at the pump consisted of 68% crude oil, 7% refining, 10% distribution and marketing, and 15% taxes (see Fig.1). This shows an increase of crude oil over the 2000-2009 average of 51%. (e. I. Administration)
The U.S dependency on foreign oil presents many negative impacts on the nation’s economy. The cost for crude oil represents about 36% of the U.S balance of payment deficit. (Wright, R. T., & Boorse, D. F. 2011). This does not affect directly the price of gas being paid by consumers, but the money paid circulates in the country’s economy and affects areas such as; the job market and production facilities. (Wright, R. T., & Boorse, D. F. 2011). In addition to the rise in prices, another negative aspect of the U.S dependency on foreign crude oil is the risk of supply disruptions caused by political instability of the Middle East. According to Rebecca Lefton and Daniel J. Weiss in the Article “Oil Dependence Is a Dangerous Habit” in 2010, the U.S imported 4 million barrels of oil a day or 1.5 billion barrels per year from “dangerous or unstable” countries. The prices in which these barrels are being purchased at are still very high, and often lead to conflict between the U.S and Middle Eastern countries. Lefton and Weiss also add that the U.S reliance on oil from countries ...
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