Helicopter:"...why is it that the U.S. buy's more oil from overseas, but U.S. sell's most of the oil that comes out of the ground here in the U.S., back overseas. this is a known fact. The U.S. only keeps a very small share of the oil. ..."
I don't think that's quite right, Heli. Here is a recent Bloomberg article with some point-counterpoint:
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-0...since-70s.html
We export refined products, like gasoline, but oil exports are greatly restricted. If oil production from new technologies continues we may get to energy independence soon, particularly when factoring in natural gas. While everyone has been operating under old assumptions 'drill baby drill" has been going on and it's outstripping shipping and marketing capacity, even in this region. (Drive into the northern border areas of Oklahoma and they're even reviving dead fields. It's easy to see.) It's a real game changer that is coming, but it isn't here yet, but it is the subject of debate. We haven't been in this place for decades.
Something like 220,000 barrels if crude were shipped out if the Balken formation fields of North Dakota last year--all by truck and primarily rail. (Buffett didn't buy BNSF by blind luck, it's the primary railroad in that region.) The old number was zero.
You want prices to modulate? The Keystone Pipeline would help. Obama is deliberately holding that up though environmental red herrings have been solved and it would unlock more supply and allow us participation in the world market and lower oil prices.
You need competition with the international markets domestically. That will happen when production ends up exceeding demand here. Some of that will occur with truck fleets converting to natural gas, but it won't fully occur without reaching the ability and then allowing the export of domestic oil and interior market access to foreign commodity pricing on the world market. It only works, though, if we do reach net excess production domestically.
Our oil prices domestically are influenced by the pricing of oil on the world market. That is based upon Brent North Sea crude priced in dollars, and the dollar as the pricing mechanism also effects the pricing depending upon whether it is strong or not in world currency markets.
Domestically the price is driven by West Texas Intermediate Crude pricing determined at Cushing, OK. This doesn't begin to cover the issue of all of that, but the fact is we still import 40% of what we need and ship out very little and then under controlled circumstances where it makes sense to do so.
Government
