Aside from the fact that the US is in debt to China for more than 40% of its national debt, if anyone still thinks that the military invasions and military interventions of countries in the Middle East and Africa are not first and foremost about oil, please note the following -Oil and Gas Proven Reserves by country and U.S. Imports by country It might be helpful to note the rankings by country of proven reserves (proven meaning it has been explored, discovered and can be produced and brought on stream). OPEC member countries link also attached.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_co ... 5.htmEvery country which produces its own reserves of oil and gas and every country which imports oil and gas, keeps a 'crisis reserve of oil and gas' to meet extreme and threatening situations of war within or without, economic sanctions, and/or national disaster which would impede the country's ability to meet its most basic consumption demands within its national borders. It is from this 'crisis reserve' (which crisis reserve could be some previously imported oil and some previously nationally discovered and ready on stream oil) that the United States has decided to draw upon to meet a portion of its current short term national daily consumption. It is somewhat misleading to think of a crisis reserves supply as 'surpluses'. Real and tangible surpluses of oil and gas is when a country's proven reserves of oil and gas exceed their own demand of supply for national consumption in the long term forecast which time frame in terms of proven (and probable) reserves is forecast generally by the industry in terms of a 25 year forecast. The United States ranks #14 on the list of countries with proven reserves of oil and gas and does not have the proven reserves to meet its current nor its long term forecast needs for supply of oil. Converserly, the United States ranks #1 on a list of countries of importers of foreign oil. Top 14 countries by proven reserves (proven not probable) are-↓ Country↓ Reserves (bbl)↓ Share of World %↓1 Saudi Arabia 264,600,000,000 19.00% (OPEC member)2 Canada 175,200,000,000 12.58%3 Iran 137,600,000,000 9.88% (OPEC member)4 Iraq 115,000,000,000 8.26% (OPEC member)5 Kuwait 104,000,000,000 7.47% (OPEC member)6 United Arab Emirates 97,800,000,000 7.02% (OPEC member)7 Venezuela 97,770,000,000 7.02% (OPEC member)8 Russia 74,200,000,000 5.33%9 Libya 47,000,000,000 3.38% (OPEC member)10 Nigeria 37,500,000,000 2.69% (OPEC member)11 Kazakhstan 30,000,000,000 2.15%12 Qatar 25,410,000,000 1.82% (OPEC member)13 China 20,350,000,000 1.46%14 United States 19,120,000,000 1.37%Below are links to a recent 2011 report on the global rankings by country upon whom the United States relies for imports of oil.
ftp://ftp.eia.doe.gov/pub/oil_gas/petro ... rt.htmlTop 14 countries ranked by bbls.of oil imported per daySOURCE: CIA World Factbook 2009 1 World 65.410.0002 United States 13.710.0003 European Union 8.613.0004 Japan 5.032.0005 China 4.210.0006 Germany 3.026.0007 Netherlands 2.648.0008 France 2.465.0009 Singapore 2.440.00010 Korea, South 2.370.00011 Italy 2.223.00012 India 2.159.00013 Spain 1.777.00014 United Kingdom 1.673.00015 Canada 1.229.000Release of crisis reserves of oil within the US right now to meet the current daily demand is not a token action. It is an event with catastrophic consequence. US foreign policy has bit off more than it can chew. Have any of you read the book, Confessions of an Economic Hit Man?