Even though Saudi Arabia is the world's largest producer of petroleum, and OPEC countries produce much of the oil in the global market, the U.S. imports most of its oil from Canada, Mexico and other non-OPEC countries. Petroleum imports from Canada have been increasing since the early 1980s and in the last decade, the U.S. has begun to import more from Russia as well. Overall, petroleum imports to the U.S. have varied considerably since 1973 reflecting U.S. and global economic conditions. The sharp decline in the "Other OPEC Countries" category in the early 1980s reflects in part the effect of the U.S. embargo of oil from Iran in late 1979. The total amount of imported petroleum peaked in 2005 and 2006 at 13.71 million barrels per day before declining with the global economic recession that followed.

Sources of U.S. Petroleum Imports, 1973-2011

 

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Note: OPEC = Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries

Supporting Information

Crude Oil Imported to the U.S. by Country of Origin, 1973-2011 (million barrels per day)
Year Saudi Arabia Venezuela Nigeria Other OPEC Countries Canada Mexico Russia Other
Non-OPEC
Countries
Total
1973 0.49 1.13 0.46 0.91 1.32 0.02 0.03 1.90 6.26
1974 0.46 0.98 0.71 1.10 1.07 0.01 0.02 1.76 6.11
1975 0.71 0.70 0.76 1.42 0.85 0.07 0.01 1.52 6.06
1976 1.23 0.70 1.02 2.11 0.60 0.09 0.01 1.55 7.31
1977 1.38 0.69 1.14 2.98 0.52 0.18 0.01 1.91 8.81
1978 1.14 0.65 0.92 3.04 0.47 0.32 0.01 1.82 8.36
1979 1.36 0.69 1.08 2.51 0.54 0.44 0.00 1.84 8.46
1980 1.26 0.48 0.86 1.70 0.45 0.53 0.00 1.62 6.91
1981 1.13 0.41 0.62 1.17 0.45 0.52 0.00 1.70 6.00
1982 0.55 0.41 0.51 0.67 0.48 0.68 0.00 1.80 5.11
1983 0.34 0.42 0.30 0.80 0.55 0.83 0.00 1.81 5.05
1984 0.32 0.55 0.22 0.96 0.63 0.75 0.01 2.00 5.44
1985 0.17 0.60 0.29 0.76 0.77 0.82 0.01 1.64 5.07
1986 0.68 0.79 0.44 0.92 0.81 0.70 0.02 1.86 6.22
1987 0.75 0.80 0.53 0.97 0.85 0.65 0.01 2.10 6.68
1988 1.07 0.79 0.62 1.03 1.00 0.75 0.03 2.11 7.40
1989 1.22 0.87 0.82 1.23 0.93 0.77 0.05 2.17 8.06
1990 1.34 1.02 0.80 1.13 0.93 0.76 0.04 1.99 8.02
1991 1.80 1.03 0.70 0.55 1.03 0.81 0.03 1.67 7.63
1992 1.72 1.17 0.68 0.52 1.07 0.83 0.02 1.88 7.89
1993 1.41 1.30 0.74 0.82 1.18 0.92 0.05 2.19 8.62
1994 1.40 1.33 0.64 0.87 1.27 0.98 0.03 2.46 9.00
1995 1.34 1.48 0.63 0.55 1.33 1.07 0.02 2.41 8.83
1996 1.36 1.68 0.62 0.56 1.42 1.24 0.03 2.57 9.48
1997 1.41 1.77 0.70 0.69 1.56 1.39 0.01 2.63 10.16
1998 1.49 1.72 0.70 1.00 1.60 1.35 0.02 2.83 10.71
1999 1.48 1.49 0.66 1.33 1.54 1.32 0.09 2.95 10.85
2000 1.57 1.55 0.90 1.19 1.81 1.37 0.07 3.00 11.46
2001 1.66 1.55 0.89 1.43 1.83 1.44 0.09 2.98 11.87
2002 1.55 1.40 0.62 1.03 1.97 1.55 0.21 3.20 11.53
2003 1.77 1.38 0.87 1.14 2.07 1.62 0.25 3.15 12.26
2004 1.56 1.55 1.14 1.45 2.14 1.66 0.30 3.34 13.15
2005 1.54 1.53 1.17 1.36 2.18 1.66 0.41 3.87 13.71
2006 1.46 1.42 1.11 1.52 2.35 1.71 0.37 3.76 13.71
2007 1.48 1.36 1.13 2.00 2.45 1.53 0.41 3.09 13.47
2008 1.53 1.19 0.99 2.25 2.49 1.30 0.47 2.70 12.92
2009 1.00 1.06 0.81 1.90 2.48 1.21 0.56 2.66 11.69
2010 1.10 0.99 1.02 1.80 2.54 1.28 0.61 2.46 11.79
2011 1.19 0.94 0.82 1.58 2.71 1.20 0.62 2.29 11.36

Source: Source:Energy Information Administration, Monthly Energy Review, Washington, DC, March 2012, Tables 3.3c and 3.3d.

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