Paper Topic:
oil effects on U.S economy
Oil Consumption and the U .S . Economy According to the CIA World Factbook , the United States is the largest consumer of oil in the world , consuming 20 ,030 ,000 barrels per day out of 80 ,727 ,420 barrels per day consumed by 211 nations in all (Oil Consumption , 2005 . As a matter of fact , oil has been vital to military power and modern industrial society since the early twentieth century The possession of sufficient domestic oil supplies and control over access to foreign oil reserves is a significant factor in the power
position of the United States with respect to its rivals , writes Stephen J . Randall (2005 . Hence , the foreign policy of the nation must take oil into account
The country met almost all of its oil requirements from domestic sources until the early 1970s . Western Pennsylvania played a major role as a domestic supplier of oil in the early history of the nation (Economic History , 2007 . However , the self-sufficiency of the United States with regards to oil was gradually eroded as the nation 's internal production of oil failed to keep pace with the growing levels of energy consumption (Poche , 1998 . The industrialization of the country had the most significant part to play in this depletion of domestic sources of oil . After all , the United States ' economy was going to grow by leaps and bounds throughout the middle of the twentieth century and beyond (See GDP Graph in Appendix . Fueled by industrialization , this high rate of economic growth called for oil supplies from outside the country , seeing that industrialization cannot do without oil as yet Also according to the CIA World Factbook , the oil production of United States was 7 .61 million bbl /day in 2005 , while its oil consumption amounted to 20 .72 million bbl /day in the year 2004 . The nation 's oil exports
OIL CONSUMPTION AND THE U .S . ECONOMY
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amounted to 1 .048 million bbl /day in 2004 , while its oil imports were worth 13 .15 million bbl /day in the same year (United States , 2007
As we have discovered , with industrialization the new energy needs of the United States had to be satisfied mainly through petroleum imports . Imported oil still accounts for approximately two-thirds of the U .S . consumption of oil (United States . As a matter of fact , oil imports are so important to the economy that Timothy W . Maier (2000 ) has written : What has thrown three incumbent presidents out of office and threatens to pull down the Democrats ' bid to keep the White House ? Oil - or lack of it ' This is because the U .S . consumer cannot imagine now a life without petrol in his or her car , and heating in his or her home - also using oil as its energy source . Therefore , any president of the United States who fails to let enough oil into the nation is in trouble seeing that the economic growth of the country is generally fueled by oil
In the year 1973 , there...
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