YALLA VOTE ‘08 Our Voice. Our Future.

How many times over the course of the 2008 political campaign have we heard the phrase “Middle East oil?” Candidates for office at the federal (and even state levels) have promised to end U.S. reliance on Middle East oil, with the danger varying from the potential instability of the region to “oil wealth funding terrorists.”

Such statements demonstrate both ignorance about the U.S. energy equation and the intention to score political points at the expense of Arab Americans. Here are a few useful facts from the U.S. government. Use them well….

According to the U.S. Department of Energy’s Energy Information Agency, oil imports (whether crude or refined) come primarily from countries in our own hemisphere, and that a little more than a quarter come from the Middle East. In fact:

• the three countries in the Arab world that crack the top fifteen exporters of oil to the U.S. (Saudi Arabia, Algeria and Kuwait) are responsible for 27% or our imported crude oil.
• By contrast, 31% of “foreign oil” comes from Canada and Mexico, and when one adds in the other top import sources of oil from the Western Hemisphere (Venezuela, Brazil, Ecuador and Colombia) the percentage of foreign oil from the Western Hemisphere rises to 39%.
• The balance comes from Africa (Nigeria, Angola, Chad, combining for 15%), Europe (Russia at 2%), and Asia (Azerbaijan at 1%).

The chart below is the source of the math above. The July 2008 numbers were used because they show a higher percentage of oil coming from the three Arab producers than the numbers for other months (representing primarily Saudi Arabia’s commitment to increase production).

Crude Oil Imports (Top 15 Countries) (Thousand Barrels per Day)
Country	Jul-08	Jun-08	YTD 2008	Jul-07	YTD 2007
CANADA	1,960	1,883	1,899	1,818	1,872
SAUDI ARABIA	1,661	1,479	1,543	1,434	1,411
MEXICO	1,200	1,124	1,194	1,469	1,457
VENEZUELA	1,187	1,085	1,038	1,167	1,117
NIGERIA	741	946	993	890	1,003
IRAQ	696	693	677	460	473
ANGOLA	640	636	517	392	542
BRAZIL	241	280	224	147	156
ALGERIA	232	269	306	537	500
ECUADOR	226	178	197	159	189
RUSSIA	202	228	123	99	130
COLOMBIA	178	177	182	207	122
AZERBAIJAN	134	53	57	68	49
KUWAIT	122	179	205	197	194
CHAD	108	107	102	61	68

Total Imports of Petroleum (Top 15 Countries) (Thousand Barrels per Day)
Country	Jul-08	Jun-08	YTD 2008	Jul-07	YTD 2007
CANADA	2,383	2,359	2,459	2,386	2,458
SAUDI ARABIA	1,673	1,493	1,558	1,436	1,435
VENEZUELA	1,340	1,215	1,196	1,399	1,363
MEXICO	1,290	1,254	1,302	1,611	1,593
NIGERIA	822	1,020	1,052	906	1,054
IRAQ	696	693	677	460	473
ANGOLA	652	649	527	404	554
RUSSIA	554	764	486	534	419
ALGERIA	456	492	524	747	722
VIRGIN ISLANDS	290	314	329	372	327
BRAZIL	272	314	250	200	204
ECUADOR	227	184	204	172	195
COLOMBIA	191	179	203	231	138
UNITED KINGDOM	167	286	215	369	319
NETHERLANDS	139	264	163	130	126

Note: The data in the tables above exclude oil imports into the U.S. territories.

Source: http://www.eia.doe.gov/pub/oil_gas/petroleum/data_publications/company_level_imports/current/import.html