This chart shows primary energy sources and where that energy is consumed for the United States as a whole. The chart is expressed in terms of BTUs (British Thermal Units)⁸ which is a measure of the heat value (energy content) of fuels. The U.S. Department of Energy uses the measurement in this situation to make an apples-to-apples comparison between five categories of energy sources. For example, one pound of uranium will produce much more energy than one pound of coal. So, to make sources of energy equivalent to one another for this chart, each category is expressed in terms of the number of BTUs that it produced in the United States during 2007.
 
Several conclusions can be drawn from studying the chart. We believe the three most significant conclsuions are as follows:
 
The largest supply of energy—Petroleum (39.3%)—is the largest source of energy (70%) for the second largest category of consumption—Transportation (28.5%)—in the United States. If we want to decrease our dependence on foreign oil, we need to: (a) produce more oil domestically; (b) develop more fuel-efficient forms of transportation; and (c) develop new and existing forms of alternative energy.

If it were not for the abundant domestic supply of coal—which supplies over one half of the fuel for electricity generation in the United States—we would be in much worse shape than we are already in.

Nuclear Power is used exclusively for Electric Power. Increasing our nuclear generation capacity reduces our dependency on coal and natural gas but does very little, directly, to reduce demand for petroleum.

Serious consideration needs to be given to the idea now being promoted by T. Boone Pickens to switching from gasoline to liquified natural gas as a substitute or partial substitute for automotive transportation. To do this, alternative energy sources, including both nuclear power and renewable energy need to be developed to take the place of natural gas as a fuel for Industrial applications, Residential and Commercial uses, and Electric Power generation.

Notes:
Sum of components may not equal 100 percent due to independent rounding.
Sources: Energy Information Administration, Annual Energy Review 2007, Tables 1.3, 2.1b-2.1f and 10.3.

Footnotes:
¹Does not include 0.6 quadrillion Btu of fuel ethanol, which is included in “Renewable Energy.”
²Excludes supplemental gaseous fuels.
³Includes less than 0.1 quadrillion Btu of coal coke net imports.
⁴Conventional hydroelectric power, geothermal, solar/PV, wind, and biomass.
⁵Includes industrial combined-heat-and-power (CHP) and industrial electricity-only plants.
⁶Includes commercial combined-heat-and-power (CHP) and commercial electricity-only plants.
⁷Electricity-only and combined-heat-and-power (CHP) plants whose primary business is to sell electricity, or electricity and heat, to the public.
⁸A BTU is defined as the amount of heat required to raise the temperature of one pound of water by one degree Farenheit.

Despite the fact that demand for oil has exceeded supply during approximately one-half of the past 38 years, the shortages have not been extreme – the largest being approximately 1.5 billion barrels in 1982. Market forces always seem to be at work to solve the imbalances. But opinions differ as to the cause of the enormous price increase during the last year. Are the traditional supply and demand forces still operational? Are ”speculators” artificailly driving up the price? Are there other forces at work? What’s your opinion? 

This chart expresses the price of oil in constant 2007 dollars. Before the recent run up in prices, the previous record high occurred in April 1980. By this time, the U.S. government had already implemented the so-called CAFE standards (Corporate Average Fuel Economy) to combat an oil shortage driven by policies of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries. The standards raised fuel efficiency in American cars by 7.6 miles a gallon over six years, causing oil imports from the Persian Gulf to fall by 87 percent. The U.S. economy grew by 27 percent during that period and automobile manufacturers figured out how to build more fuel-efficient cars largely without reductions in size, comfort or power.

During World War II the United States was self-sufficient in terms of oil – producing almost 1.8 billion barrels per year. U.S. production rose to an all-time high of approximately 3.4 billion barrels per year in 1972. Thereafter, the decline in U.S. production began, and we are now back to approximately the 1946-level of oil production when the population of the United States was 141 million. Today, the U.S. population exceeds 304 million.

This chart shows the most recent monthly oil import data for selected countries. The largest, supplier, Canada, supplies approximately 21% of oil imported by the United States. Note that since 2006 Saudi Arabia has displaced Mexico as the second leading exporter to the United States behind Canada primarily because Mexican oil production has declined in recent years.

In 2006, the United States obtained approximately 31% of its imported oil requirements from Canada and Mexico. Another 21% came from Saudi Arabia and Venezuela, combined. The remaining 49% came from 81 oil exporting countries around the world.

Note: The difference in the number of barrels per day between this chart (13.707 million) and another chart in this series (12.357 million) is that this chart includes oil imported to the United States that was added to the Strategic Petroleum Reserve during the year.

Note: Data for the year 2006 is used in many of the charts in this series because it represents the latest year for which the U.S. Department of Energy has collected a complete set of information for all of the oil producing and consuming countries of the world. This provides the data that is used to accurately rank the countries in many categories. The DOE has not yet finished collecting all of the data from 2007. As a result, updated rankings for 2007 are not yet available. As can be seen in other charts in this section, sufficient data is available in some cases to produce accurate charts for the year 2007 and the year 2008 to date.

Note: There is an apparent discrepancy between the amount of oil imported from Canada on this chart (2.353 million barrels per day) and another chart in this section that lists the top 15 net oil exporting nations. On that chart, Canada is not listed as one of the top fifteen oil exporting nations, even though the fifteenth nation exported only 1.145 million barrels per day in 2006. This situation is explained by the fact that Canada imports some oil and petroleum products. After these imports are taken into account, Canada has enough oil left to export a sizeable amount to the United States. In 2006, Canada was the 16th largest net exporter of oil.

The United States relies heavily on imported oil for its petroleum needs, getting approximately 60% of its daily supply from foreign countries. Japan, the second largest importer, is almost completely dependent upon foreign supply. In 2006, China imported approximately one-half of the oil that it consumed.

Note: Data for the year 2006 is used in many of the charts in this series because it represents the latest year for which the U.S. Department of Energy has collected a complete set of information for all of the oil producing and consuming countries of the world. This provides the data that is used to accurately rank the countries in many categories. The DOE has not yet finished collecting all of the data from 2007. As a result, updated rankings for 2007 are not yet available. As can be seen in other charts in this section, sufficient data is available in some cases to produce accurate charts for the year 2007 and the year 2008 to date.

With an estimated population of 28.2 million (less than one-tenth that of the United States), Saudi Arabia produces far more oil than it consumes. Together with Russia, the two countries produce more oil than the next seven countries combined.

Note: Data for the year 2006 is used in many of the charts in this series because it represents the latest year for which the U.S. Department of Energy has collected a complete set of information for all of the oil producing and consuming countries of the world. This provides the data that is used to accurately rank the countries in many categories. The DOE has not yet finished collecting all of the data from 2007. As a result, updated rankings for 2007 are not yet available. As can be seen in other charts in this section, sufficient data is available in some cases to produce accurate charts for the year 2007 and the year 2008 to date.

In 2007, worldwide consumption of oil totaled approximately 85 million barrels of oil per day, of which the United States consumed approximately 24%. The good news is that the use of oil in the United States has remained relatively flat for the last few years. The bad news is that China’s consumption is growing rapidly.

Saudi Arabia is the largest oil producer in the world. With one-fifth of the world’s proven oil reserves, some of the lowest production costs, and an aggressive energy sector investment initiative, Saudi Arabia is likely to remain the world’s largest net oil exporter. Russia is a major world oil producer, sometimes producing even more than Saudi Arabia. Following the collapse of the former Soviet Union , Russia’s oil output fell sharply, and has rebounded only in the last several years. Although the United States ranks third in terms of oil production, it only ranks eleventh in terms of proven oil reserves. U.S. oil production has been declining for years. In 2005, Hurricanes Katrina and Rita slashed oil output from the Gulf of Mexico.

Note: Data for the year 2006 is used in many of the charts in this series because it represents the latest year for which the U.S. Department of Energy has collected a complete set of information for all of the oil producing and consuming countries of the world. This provides the data that is used to accurately rank the countries in many categories. The DOE has not yet finished collecting all of the data from 2007. As a result, updated rankings for 2007 are not yet available. As can be seen in other charts in this section, sufficient data is available in some cases to produce accurate charts for the year 2007 and the year 2008 to date.