Tech News: Petroleum Producers - Friend or Foe?

Here's a interesting read....

You should know where your oil comes from. (USA).

We hear it regularly. "Those #@&% foreigners and their #@&% oil!" But who are these people?

Where do our petro dollars really go?

An accurate up-to-date assessment is only a couple clicks away at the Department of Energy's Energy Information Administration. The answer may surprise you.

About 1/3 of our crude oil supplies come from domestic sourcing. (This figure could be increased, but there's prudence in maintaining domestic reserves.) Of the remaining 2/3, month after month, year after year, two countries — Canada and Mexico — regularly appear at the top of E.I.A.'s list of crude oil imports. That is, largely for economic, geographical, political and commercial reasons, our two most important crude oil suppliers are also our nearest and friendliest neighbors.

Here are our top ten crude oil suppliers, averaged in terms of thousands of barrels per day, year-to-date, June 29, 2009.

In fact (and in full disclosure), Mexico and Saudi Arabia have been known to swap places in the tally now and then. Mexico's supplies are abundant and nearby, but typically heavy and high in sulfur. Saudi Arabian Light is a world standard of light-density crude.

Also, "Sweet Crude" is more than a recent documentary about the oil-rich Niger Delta. Nigerian Bonny Light is the world standard for low sulfur content, what's known in the trade as "sweetness." In fact, it contains 1/10 the sulfur of Arabian Light. Our own West Texas Intermediate, also known as Texas Sweet Light, is almost as sweet.

Each crude stock has costs and benefits in optimizing refinery operation. Following economic principles of supply and demand — and corporate return on investment — our strategy involving foreign petroleum sourcing appears to be well diversified and not at all irrational.

Some points to consider: About 60 percent of our crude imports, and thus around 40 percent of our total appetite, comes from the Western Hemisphere. The Persian Gulf contributes about 24 percent of the imports, around 16 percent of our total, similar to the Canadian contribution.

How long will this good fortune continue with our neighbors to the north? It is generally estimated that Canada's conventional petroleum reserves have already peaked. But include its tar sands, and Canada's reserves are second in size only to Saudi Arabia's.

And they're a whole lot closer.

Source;
http://www.roadandtrack.com/article.asp?section_id=36&article_id=8243