Recent imports are not a reflection of a wider longterm strategy...sure they went lower...but there is no reason to believe they will remain low once the area becomes more "secure"
Patton that is a valid argument. We have extended our power into Iraq in an attempt to pursue America interests for the future, however oil is not a contributor to our reasons of invasion.
The ME only accounts for 18% of the worlds oil production and the U.S. only uses about 15% of the total ME oil production.* We are not the only country that uses oil and we get most of our oil elsewhere. The oil market is simply determined by a global aggregate of demand and supply. The amount of oil that we would gain (or control) from Iraq is very minimal compared to the huge amount of costs associated for the war compared to the other 85% of oil elsewhere. An d that does not include the billions of barrels of untapped oil that we don't know about (maybe in the north pole) that oil companies are pouring billions of dollars into searching for these fields.
*Numbers calculated using data from:
http://www.nationmaster.com/red/pie/ene_oil_pro-energy-oil-productionhttp://tonto.eia.doe.gov/dnav/pet/pet_move_impcus_a2_nus_ep00_im0_mbbl_a.htmAnd that leaves me to your next quote...
US imports also don't speak of the other important part of the equation, and that is control of oil allows for denying others to use it also, and with regards the the US wider strategic objectives...this means denying Russia and China access and control.
Russia is one of the biggest producers of Oil. Russia produces over 12% of our worlds oil supply! WTF do they need with ME oil? They are the ones capitalizing on the resource, not squandering it, and if things go well with Putin, hopefully we may be able to become a primary buyer of Russian oil. But NAFTA just makes it so easy for us so we just stick with Canada, Mexico and Venezuela.
And don't forget, the U.S. still produces over 9% of the worlds oil production, particularly with new oil fields being discovered in the Gulf of Mexico.
The reasons for why we have gone into Iraq can be left for another discussion and I don't know much of the answers. But when looking at the numbers, it is very safe for me to say that the war was never about oil.
This is one of the great pieces of the grand oil myths that are come up by people who know nothing about international trade and economics and prefer to place hidden agendas in the bullshit they shovel.
Instead of this thread being called "It was always about oil..." it should be called "It was always about our hatred for the BUSH administration who lied to the American public, and have left us scrambling for reasons and since oil is so damn evil we are going to place the blame on the evil greedy BUSH administration and their thirst for the minuscule amount of oil that rests in the ME because we are too dumb to try and look at oil production from a broader perspective."
So, like I said, again for the third time, it was never about oil.
