U.S. Importing 26% More Saudi Oil!

America is sliding back into decreased dependence on OPEC oil, according to The New York Times.

The United States imported a daily average of more than 1.45 million barrels of Saudi crude over the first five months of this year, compared to a daily average of roughly 1.15 million barrels over the same period last year, according to Energy Department estimates. Similar increases have come from Kuwait and Iraq, even while total OPEC and non-OPEC imports declined.

To make matters worse, this escalation offsets a major move toward greater energy security that had taken place during the last few years:

The increase in Saudi oil exports to the United States began slowly last summer and has picked up pace this year. Until then, the United States had decreased its dependence on foreign oil and from the Gulf in particular.

Many factors contribute to this alarming trend:

• declining production from Mexico

• declining production from Venezuela

• drilling moratorium in the Gulf of Mexico

• increased Saudi production

The result is a scenario that has veteran policy experts worried:

“At a time when there is a rising chance of either a nuclear Iran or an Israeli strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities, we should be trying to reduce our reliance on oil going through the Strait of Hormuz and not increasing it,” said Michael Makovsky, a former Defense Department official who worked on Middle East issues in the George W. Bush administration.