FACT : USA Imports more oil from Canada than from Saudi Arabia. Is Canada to blame for our high cost of Gas ?

Question

http://www.eia.doe.gov/pub/oil_gas/petroleum/data_publications/company_level_imports/current/import.html

Answer 1

That the US imports more oil from Canada than from any other country is true.  But Canada doesn't do anything to manipulate the price of oil, it just exports it for a tidy profit at the going rate set by supply and demand forces.  I'm sure no one working the Alberta oil sands is rooting for the price to go down, but they aren't responsible for making the price go up -- they've been increasing capacity as fast as humanly possible, which all else being equal would lower the price.

If any countries can be said to be "blamed" for high oil prices, it's the ones in Asia and South America that subsidize gas.  That helps prevent demand from going down when the price rises and keeps consumption above the "rational level" as determined by the market.

(P.S. Refinery capacity, as argued above, is a red herring.  If the issue was refinery capacity, the price of gas would be going up, but the price of oil would still be low, and might even get lower as crude supplies back up in storage, unable to be refined.  The fact that the price of oil, and not just gas, is high rules out refinery capacity as a culprit)

Answer 2

There is nobody to blame but ourselves for consuming more than can be produced and causing the market to increase the price due to the demand and lack of supply.

Supply/Demand dictates price, not Governments or Oil Companies.

Answer 3

No, although a shortage of refinery capacity may be to blame.

You are absolutely correct that Canada exports more oil and petroleum products to the U.S. than any other single nation. However, until that crude oil is refined into gasoline and other distillates, it is of little use to the average motorist or even non-refinery corporation. Due to high captial costs and a stern resistence from environmental groups, we have not built a new oil refinery since 1976, and so we are attempting to meet gasoline demand for 300 million + Americans using capacity that was designed for 220 million Americans.

Answer 4

Yes... that is why they sell us drugs at cut rates... it's to settle their consciences for raking us on oil.