Why U.S. Can’t Use the Oil It Produces

The U.S. is the world's largest oil producer but still imports a lot of oil due to several reasons. Firstly, the U.S. has the 11th largest oil reserve, much smaller than countries like Venezuela, Saudi Arabia, Canada, and Iran. Secondly, the U.S. produces oil aggressively to keep prices low as it is a major consumer of oil. Thirdly, the U.S. exports nearly one-third of its oil production due to refining capacities and capabilities within the nation. Many U.S. refineries were built to handle heavier grades of crude oil imported from other countries, while a substantial proportion of the oil extracted domestically is light sweet crude, which fetches a higher price on the global market but can't be efficiently processed by refineries designed for heavy sour crude.

via U.S. Catastrophic Oil Crisis, Why U.S. Can’t Use the Oil It Produces