Policy Proposal Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Policy Proposal - Research Paper Example It shall discuss the oil supply issue and its impact on the American society and politics. It shall also describe specific solutions to this issue and how such solutions can contribute to the American economy in general. This paper is being conducted in order to establish a clear and comprehensive discussion on the subject matter. Discussion 1. What is the problem? According to the US Energy Information Administration (EIA), in 2010, the US consumed about 19 million barrels of petroleum products per day; such consumption makes the US consistently the largest petroleum consumer in the world. It was ranked third in terms of crude oil production; however, crude oil is not the sole source of US petroleum supplies (EIA). Much gain was seen with the increase in crude oil production because crude oil has been known to expand during the refining process. Liquid fuel has also been seen from natural gases, and other sources, including biofuels (EIA). These represent additional supplies in petr oleum products for the US. Still, in 2010, the US had to import about 11.8 million barrels per day of crude oil and other petroleum products, including gasoline, diesel fuel, heating oil, jet fuel, chemical feedstocks, asphalt, and similar products (EIA). Based on the EIA report, about half (49%) of the US oil imports come from the Western hemisphere and about 18% of these imports come from the Persian Gulf, specifically the countries of Bahrain, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, and Qatar. The largest source of crude oil and petroleum products are Canada, Nigeria, Venezuela, Mexico, and Saudi Arabia (EIA). The EIA also reports that since 2005, the US reliance on foreign sources of petroleum products have decreased. This decline is seemingly attributed to the economic crisis experienced by the US and the global community in general, as well as changes in consumer behavior, and increase in the use of domestic sources of oil like biofuels and natural gas plant liquids (EIA). In a discussion by Lefton and Weiss, they set forth that the increase in oil imports increased the gap between the US imports and exports. They pointed out that the US is allocating about $1 billion a day in its foreign oil investments; investments which could have been better spent on domestic sources. Moreover, burning oil has contributed to the exacerbation of global warming, representing more dire threats on our national security (Lefton and Weiss). Their analysis also sets forth that the US has relied on imported oil from countries which are on the State Department’s Travel Warning list, including Algeria, Chad, Colombia, Iraq, Nigeria, Pakistan, Syria, Saudi Arabia, among others (Lefton and Weiss). This is unfortunate because the country’s reliance on oil imports from these countries have serious implication on national security, economy, and environment (Lefton and Weiss). The US imports about 4 million barrels of oil per day from these unstable countries , incurring a cost of approximately $150 billion (Lefton and Weiss). Since the US is considered the highest consumer of oil, it contributes significantly to the worldwide overall demand for the product. In effect, its demand plays a major part on the oil prices in the market. This high demand makes the country vulnerable to the whims of oil-producing nations. Moreover, this high demand which impacts on oil process benefits oil-producing countries which do not sell oil to the US, as in the case of Iran which does not trade