If the Iraq War is About Oil, then How Much Are We Getting? Scott Manning May 6, 2008

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Not enough. Or at least not as much as we were getting before the war.

Those who claim the Iraq War is only about oil make it sound like U.S. troops are extracting oil directly from the veins of Iraqi babies and pumping it into my car. If it were that simple, then why have gas prices risen so steadily? I just paid $38.85 to fill up my Honda Civic.

The response you hear is something about the oil companies gouging everyone at the gas pump. The oil companies defend themselves with a bunch of mumbo-jumbo concerning supply, demand, lack of refineries, and less sources for oil.

Here are the facts:

• The U.S. gets less oil today from Iraq than before 9/11
• The largest source of crude oil for the United States is the United States
• Iraq has never represented more than 4.5% of crude oil used in the United States
• The United States' dependence on foreign oil has increased, but the amount of oil from the Persian Gulf has decreased

The U.S. gets less oil today from Iraq than before 9/11

In 2001, the U.S. imported 298 million barrels of oil from Iraq. This was the peak year over the past 10 years. Compare that peak to every year since 2001. The amount of oil imported has gone down and fluctuated, but has averaged at around 190 million barrels a year.

Source: U.S. Crude Oil and Petroleum Products Imports from Iraq published by Energy Information Association

Conspiracy theorists will point out that the amount of crude oil imported from Iraq dropped in 2002 and 2003, thus pushing the U.S. government to invade Iraq to get more oil. But Iraq was not holding oil from the U.S. In fact, all oil production in Iraq dropped in 2002 and 2003.

Source: Iraq Energy Profile: 10 Year Energy Data Series published by Energy Information Association. Crude Oil Production is compared to Total Oil Exports to U.S.

Conspiracy theorists should also consider 2001 being such a big year for importing oil from Iraq. This high import rate carried through the end of January 2002.

The largest source for crude oil for the United States is the United States

Most reports will cover the amount of oil being imported into the United States, but few include the amount of crude oil produced in the country. The United States is the source of more than 1/4th of all crude oil used in the country.

Source: U.S. Imports by Country of Origin and U.S. Crude Oil Field Production published by Energy Information Association. This chart includes a recent 6-month period (August 2007 through January 2008).

The chart above shows all oil imported and oil produced in the U.S.. The biggest contributors of crude oil to the United States are:

1. United States - 27.40%
2. Canada - 13.48%
3. Saudi Arabia - 8.44%
4. Mexico - 7.78%
5. Venezuela - 7.38%
6. Nigeria - 6.74%
7. Algeria - 3.30%
8. Iraq - 2.77%
9. Angola - 2.53%

Iraq has never represented more than 4.5% of crude oil used in the United States

In the chart above, Iraq represents only 2.77% of crude oil used in the United States. This level is lower than the 1999-2001 levels.

At the peak of imports from Iraq, the oil from the country only represented 4.5%.

Source: U.S. Crude Oil Field Production, U.S. Crude Oil and Petroleum Products Imports from Iraq, and U.S. Imports by Country of Origin published by Energy Information Association. The amount of barrels imported from Iraq for each year is divided by the sum of all imported oil and oil produce in the U.S.

Consider that when someone tells you that the Bush Administration plotted to invade Iraq for oil as early as 2001. Iraq was at its peak of producing and sending it to the United States. After toppling the Saddam regime, Iraq can't break the 3% mark in the U.S. crude oil market.

The United States' dependence on foreign oil has increased, but the amount of oil from the Persian Gulf has decreased

When politicians talk about decreasing the United States' reliance on foreign oil, the common perception is that they are referring to places like Iraq and Saudi Arabia. The truth is that places like Canada and Mexico are the ones that are continuing to increase their exports to the U.S. while the Persian Gulf has decreased exports to the U.S.

Running an ad about how we need to decrease our dependence on "Canadian Oil" doesn't quite have the ring to it that "foreign oil" does.

Source: U.S. Crude Oil and Petroleum Products Imports from Persian Gulf Countries, U.S. Imports by Country of Origin, and U.S. Crude Oil Field Production published by Energy Information Association.

The chart above shows a steady increase of foreign oil. The amount of oil produced in the U.S. has steadily decreased. In 1993, the U.S. produced 2.5 billion barrels of oil. In 2007, the U.S. produced 1.8 billion barrels.

Crude oil imported from the Persian Gulf rose during the 90's, but have steadily decreased since 2003.

Source: U.S. Crude Oil and Petroleum Products Imports from Persian Gulf Countries, U.S. Imports by Country of Origin, and U.S. Crude Oil Field Production published by Energy Information Association. The amount of barrels imported from the Persian Gulf for each year is divided by the sum of all imported oil and oil produce in the U.S. The Persian Gulf includes Bahrain, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and United Arab Emirates.

If the Iraq War is all about oil, then the U.S. has spent a lot of money and resources to topple Saddam, run elections, and train the military/police to get less oil from Iraq and the Persian Gulf region.

References

Energy Information Administration. U.S. Crude Oil and Petroleum Products Imports from Iraq (Thousand Barrels). http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/dnav/pet/hist/mttimiz1A.htm.

____. U.S. Crude Oil and Petroleum Products Imports from Persian Gulf Countries (Thousand Barrels). http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/dnav/pet/hist/mttimuspg1A.htm.

____. U.S. Crude Oil Field Production (Thousand Barrels). http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/dnav/pet/hist/mcrfpus1m.htm.

____. U.S. Imports by Country of Origin. http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/dnav/pet/pet_move_impcus_a2_nus_ep00_im0_mbbl_m.htm.

____. Iraq Energy Profile: 10 Year Energy Data Series. http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/country/country_time_series.cfm?fips=IZ.