Dependence On Foreign Resources Threatens U.S.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has publicly stated he wants his nation to become less reliant on the U.S. to purchase its oil, preferring to send more of its crude to China. Chavez wants oil sales to China to grow three-fold over the next three years. Since Venezuela currently sends 68 percent of its crude oil exports to the U.S., it is probable that Venezuela will have to curb the amount of oil it sells to the U.S. if Chavez is to meet his projected Chinese sales. For America this could be a big problem, since Venezuela provides approximately 12 percent of its total crude imports. Saudi Arabia is another country that is also pursuing a policy of reducing its oil trade with the U.S. in favor of China and India. According to global geo-strategy analyst Joseph Stroupe, “Almost none of the world’s oil and gas producers want to be inordinately dependent on the U.S. market any longer.” He says that other key Middle Eastern regimes are following suit, as are Latin America, Africa and several key Central Asian nations. It is becoming “difficult to name more than a handful of resource-rich states that are liberal democracies and that are still significantly aligned with the West,” notes Stroupe. America’s oil import disposition is a perfect example of how the U.S. relies on unstable or increasingly hostile countries for its vital energy needs. Until the recent spike in oil prices, few realized the extent of America’s reliance on foreign oil. America is by far the world’s largest oil consumer, importing 63.5 percent of its daily oil needs. In 2004, America imported as much oil as Japan, Germany, China and India combined. http://www.thetrumpet.com/index.php?page=article&id=2547

Note: http://www.thetrumpet.c...