Quote:
Originally Posted by Lanny_McDonald
We've become a net oil exporter in the last decade (2013 iirc). For the longest time we were an net importer. We were able to become a exporter because we have been able to leverage areas that had long been protected because of spill concerns. That went out the window and new we're drilling and fracking everywhere, much to the detriment of the environment. This exporter role was made possible because the United States was able to completely fill the strategic reserve. That is also turning because of a downward trend in domestic production, which will again turn us into a net importer. The United States is expected to import 4.4 million barrels of oil per day, up from 3.2 million. Access to the Saudi oil fields is still extremely important and why president after president kisses the ring - among other things - of the Saudi Royal family.
Why would the United States need to project power around the globe? Is it because they view themselves as the center of everything and want to maintain hegemony? I would suspect this is the driving force. It has nothing to do with protecting the innocent. The United States has killed more innocents with their military incursions than can be imagined. It is about maintaining their position as the shining light on the hill and having everything work the way they want it to work. |
The US is a net exporter because of fracing the Permian, which is onshore. That 3.2 MM is total imports, not net imports, and a good chunk of that is because Saudi Arabia owns US refineries and ships its own oil to them, and then other US production is exported. I think it's very unlikely US oil imports will exceed exports from Canada/Mexico in any reasonable time scale (and maybe never depending on electric vehicle uptake). That's a dishonest reason to deal with war criminals, imo.
The US being a hegemony is the real reason. I agree that the number of innocents killed by the US military (and indirectly by US foreign policy like selling weapons to the Sauds) is huge. Hard to argue that's a force for good.