For 17/18 Months To January 2007, US Domestic Production Exceeded By OPEC Imports - Dow Jones

NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--The U.S. got more crude oil from Iraq than Alaska in June as imports from OPEC continued to top domestic production. A review of U.S. data shows that in 17 of 18 months dating to January 2007, crude-oil imports from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries exceeded U.S. production levels. The figures shine a spotlight on the main points of the long-overdue debate over energy policy in the world's biggest oil consumer.

The Bush administration wants to open up coastal waters to oil drilling again, and Democratic leaders are willing to consider it, with some restrictions. The new data, though, also help puncture a popular political myth that the U.S. can gain energy independence, even in the long run, despite the sloganeering of the current presidential campaign season.

"It might be pleasing to the audience" to hear such pledges, but "energy independence is not a logical goal. It is never going to happen," said Robert Ebel, a senior energy analyst at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D.C. The U.S. accounts for nearly a quarter of world oil demand and holds just a fraction of global reserves.

With most of the world's oil reserves lying under the sands of the volatile Middle East, where political disputes sparked global oil-price shocks, cutting dependency has been a table-thumping theme well before oil prices tripled in recent years to a record high near $150 a barrel last month. But with domestic output and production from non-OPEC producers failing to keep pace with rising demand from the developing world, U.S. reliance on OPEC and Middle East imports has climbed along with prices. What's more, the higher reliance on imported oil has come as U.S. oil demand has slumped under the weight of high prices.

EDIT

http://www.cattlenetwork.com/Content.asp?ContentID=245672

Or three?

Hasn't it?

. . . and Canada isn't a member of OPEC.