Petroleum: An American Addiction

The U.S obtains more than 84% of its energy from fossil fuels including oil, coal and natural gas. This is because people rely on it to heat their homes, power industries, run vehicles, manufacturing, and provision of electricity. It is apparent that the country’s transportation industry highly depends on conventional petroleum oil, which is responsible for global warming, thus threatening economic opulence and national security. Apart from that, increasing consumption of fossil fuels have elevated health problems in the state, destroyed wild places, and polluted the environment. After conducting Environmental Impact Assessment, projections showed that the world energy consumption would increase by more than 56% between 2010 and 2040. However, fossil fuels will cater for more than 80% of the total energy used in 2040. Sadly, it will be a trajectory to alter the world’s climate, as well as, weaken the global security environment. Importantly, the rate at which the US relies on fossil fuels needs to reduce since it has adverse effects on the planet’s supplies. The society needs to realize that fossil fuels are nonrenewable, thus taking millions of years to form (Huebner, 2003). Notably, the country can reduce dependency on fossil fuels by practicing energy conservation and efficiency,

Oil has often been referred to as any economy’s lifeblood. Although this is an overemphasis, oil has been the key, nonhuman resource of the economy throughout the largest part of the 20th century. In the book “The Prize: The Epic Quest for Oil, Money, And Power” by Daniel Yergin, the author illustrates the political, societal, economic, and geo-strategic importance of this product.

Senator Everett Dirksen once noted “The oilcan is mightier than the sword”. In today’s world, it is easy to see why oil can be considered the most important resource to hold. Without oil, many of the common day occurrences we take for granted would be impossible. Oil is used for almost everything; from the fuel used to drive our vehicles, to the plastics used in every facet of life, and providing the heat needed to live through the winter. In fact, the United States depends so much on oil that as a nation it uses over 20 million barrels a day. Importing oil increases the total costs because of the need to transport it from around the world. It is estimated

With gas prices on a slow rise it is no surprise that the United States has a huge dependency on oil. In a recent statistic from the US Energy Information Administration stated that in 2012 alone roughly 10.6 million barrels of petroleum were imported into the US daily. Most recently BP was accused of spilling approximately 470 to 1228 gallons of oil. And in recent past the major oil spill with in the Gulf of Mexico which occurred in 2010 that is by many is considered to be the worst oil spill in US history. An estimated 4.9 million barrels of oil was leaked into the Gulf coast. Being detrimental to not only wildlife but also has a huge impact on the planets general population as well. Most if not all forms of transportation with a large portion being cars run on oil and little alternatives to what can be used as a substitute. With such a high dependency on oil as well as being a high risk factor why hasn’t the US looked to other forms of energy that are both clean and efficient? Many countries have found alternative ways to supply energy. Most notably Sweden, in which in later years has been noted to actually import waste to use for their energy. If a viable energy alternative is not implemented then dependency on oil may inevitably deteriorate the infrastructure in which this country is operated upon as well as consequently negatively affect natural resources and wildlife to a point in which it will be near impossible to rehabilitate.

Some economists believe total energy independence would reduce the demand for the US dollar, as the oil trade is done is US dollars. Since oil prices are set for the total supply of oil, the global market will decide the price of oil regardless of whether the US imports oil or not. Therefore, to keep the dollar strong we should continue to import oil. However, the U.S Department of Energy claims that although US petroleum production has increased and net imports have decreased oil imports have cost our economy around $116 billion in 2014 and oil price shocks and price manipulation are to blame. The solution the US Dept. of Energy has set out is to developed more advanced and fuel efficient vehicles, and create new energy sources to replace petroleum.

to find ways out by stating that they are not the ones responsible for these

The U.S. should invest in alternatives to oil, and drill on the United States grounds because it will assist the economy, preserve energy and fix the world’s environmental problems. The supply and demand for oil is always on the rise, and problems are contemplated with the use for oil. Those problems are starting to catch up to the modern world, and something needs to change before the world enters a black out. Experts can predict that there is estimated to be somewhere around 61 years of oil left for us to use at our current rate. The demand for oil is always rising. People in today’s modern society rely so heavily on oil, that they would not know what to expect if it

Benjamin Sovacool explains in his article that over the period of twelve years, the United States shale gas production increased 24.5 times the amount it produced in 1998. From 0.2 trillion cubic feet to an enormous 4.9 trillion cubic feet. Natural gas is also a huge financial benefit to North America. Before this drastic increase of fracking and natural gas production, the United States imported a clear majority of its oil and energy sources from the Middle East. This caused the middle east to obtain a control over the United States economic situation. For example, the 1979 oil embargo caused by OPEC (organization of petroleum exporting countries). According to Kimberly Amadeo, their decision to increase oil prices by a meager ten percent, caused oil rationing in the United States and worsened the already declining economy at this time. Since the increase in fracking and natural gas production, the U.S. has become decreasingly reliant on imported energy sources. Richard Janson denotes, that the impact of this influx of cheap gas has had many positive impacts on not only the economics of the energy industry, but foreign policy and the United States domestic policy. With the downfall in the need for imports for energy and the rise of hydraulic

Our dependence on foreign oil and natural gas has created a vulnerability affecting our national security and economic stability. Up until this past decade there was an appreciable decline in our oil and natural gas production in the US and we were tied to world market price fluctuations. Oil prices and natural gas prices rose and fell based on OPEC’s and other large oil and natural gas producers’ production and pricing decisions. Beginning in 2005, things began to change in the US oil and natural gas industry. New technology called hydraulic fracturing or “fracking” made it possible to extract oil and natural gas from geological

In addition to the US peak oil situation, the US Oil Drilling and Gas Extraction Industry faces heavy foreign market competition. In 2011, the US ranked 3rd in oil production, behind Saudi Arabia and Russia (Energy, 2012). Saudi Arabia’s OPEC governor expects Saudi output to rise steadily beyond 2030 with a 1.5 million barrel per day spare production capacity then (Energy, 2012). Russia holds the world’s largest

America must wean itself off of dependence on foreign oil, and one valid solution to this problem is offshore oil drilling and production. America’s economy is heavily based on petroleum, as though it is the nation’s blood; a necessity for survival. About 25% of oil produced in the U.S. comes from offshore rigs. Most of the U.S. coastline has been off limits for oil drilling since the early 1980s. Due to environmental concerns after an oil spill off the coast of California in 1969, an offshore drilling moratorium was imposed. Since then, the U.S. has amplified its energy consumption to where it uses nearly 25% of the world's oil. Meanwhile, the U.S. produces about 10% of the world's oil. That has made the U.S. heavily reliant on imported

Mr. Anderson’s chapter concludes with the following “price admits American imports of crude are high but sees no feasible alternative. The demand for energy in America is simply great and oil is simply to important for the

Exportation of United States’ crude oil has recently become a major topic of debate due to enhanced oil discovering techniques. These new production and extraction methods have been developed to fully produce reservoirs across the country. Since 1973, the United States’ government has placed rigid restrictions on the exportation of crude oil produced within the country (Johnson). These restrictions have prohibited the sale of U.S. crude oil to foreign markets (with some exceptions). President Richard Nixon proposed these bans under the 1973 Oil Embargo Act (Worstall). This act was used to promote energy security across the U.S. after the “first oil shock” occurred globally (Muffin). Well over 40 years later, the energy sector is still defined by this embargo act. “…it has become an anachronism at a time when the United States is one of the world’s biggest oil producers.” (Johnson) This has led many people to question the validity of the existing restrictions placed on crude oil exports. It has also sparked a substantial push for innovation and reform within the oil industry.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration (2015) reports that the United States consumed approximately 19.4 million barrels of petroleum products daily, which calculated to an overall total of 7.08 billion barrels by the end of 2015 (para. 2). The United States population consumes a huge quantity of oil alone, in addition to all of the other fossil fuels that it also greatly depends on. Fossil fuels are a natural resource that is in limited supply, and they provide an efficient and consistent supply of power to communities all over the planet. Many people are pleased with the short-term advantages these

Since the past few decades, owning a car has become a necessity in order to commute from one place to another. However, cars do not work automatically, they require fuel. Since the past decade, the petroleum industry has become one of the leading industries impacting the nation’s economy. Oil has become an essential commodity as it is utilized in transportation vehicles, serves as a raw material for manufacturing plastics, and is utilized in homes for cooking. America’s economy is greatly dependent on petroleum as it is the “black gold” of the nation. The considerable significance of oil has led to the drilling of it, which is not only limited to land, but also the oceans. Offshore drilling is a method in which petroleum is extracted from underneath the seabed. It is one of the significant technological advancements in the past few decades. However, the ones who are involved in the process of offshore oil production are humans, and humans tend to make mistakes. In 1969, due to a human error, an oil spill occurred and natural gas, oil, and mud shot up the well and oozed into the ocean (“Offshore Drilling”). The oil spilled led to an environmental disaster which killed thousands of marine animals and distorted the environment. In order to prevent the same error, the government passed a moratorium in 1981, banning more than 85 percent of the country’s oil drilling sites (“Offshore Drilling”). The moratorium restricted the United States to mass-produce its natural resource.