World Oil Consumption Sham

Gadabout has been running the numbers on world oil consumption trends as related to population statistics, and the numbers tell a different tale than what we are led to believe. Americans have been labeled as oil abusers because we consume a disproportionate amount of the world’s oil supplies. This is a true fact when contrasting one country against the next using descriptive data, but the trends are shifting towards a leaner America.

First off, there are a few factors that should be noted concerning the USA before looking at consumption, production and import data. The USA is nearly 100 percent industrialized, meaning that we don’t use mules to plow fields and such. The USA is a rather large country with population centers established at great distances from each other, resulting in consumption patterns unlike smaller countries. Lastly, America is a wealthy country, and wealth engenders consumption beyond what is minimally required for national efficiencies; meaning that additional activities such as boating, flying, and lawn maintenance, ATVs skew the data. Skewed, because other countries are catching up with the USA in wasting oil at the same time the USA is scaling back. Other factors include tourism, domestic illegal immigration population, and guest workers and students; all of whom disproportionately consume American oil.

The United States is the number 3 oil producer in the world, behind number 1 Saudi Arabia and number 2 Russia. The USA produces roughly 7,000 thousand barrels (t/bs) daily, 3,000 less that Saudi Arabia; and consumes 20,000 t/bs daily. Proportionately, this equates to 24% of the world’s daily consumption. Wow, Gadabout uses about 18 gallons a week in his Chevy Trail Blazer!

“Okay, Gadabout, what is your point?” you say. Well let’s look at some facts:

USA oil consumption dropped 1.3 percent in 2006 from 2005. In fact the 20,589 t/bs a day was LESS than 2004. USA consumption has only increased by less than 1 % a year since 1996, while our annual population growth rate is nearly 2 %. Maybe Americans are beginning to conserve!

Let’s look at 2006 numbers and calculate national consumption rates per capita. For the USA we would divide 20,589 t/bs (20,589,000) by 301.1 million = 0.068 barrels per capita per day.

Daily Per Capita Consumption:

USA 0.068
Canada 0.067 (those silly Canadians)
Japan 0.041 (they are small people)
China 0.006 (they still use mules)
UK 0.029 (small country with nowhere to go)
Germany 0.032 (very efficient people)
Australia 0.042 (catching up)
South Korea 0.053 (how can this be?)
France 0.031 (probably lying)
Switzerland 0.036 (no opinion)

As you can see, America is not the oil bandit that the world makes us out to be, and with our per capita trend DECLINING the big picture is favorable for the future. China’s oil demand has increased 100% over the past 10 years compared to less than 10 % for the USA.

The USA will continue to show declines, and the declines may actually accelerate during the next 10 years. One of the USA’s biggest problems is the continued use of heating oil used in the northeastern area of the country. This consumption sump must trend downward through increased use of alternate sources. Noteworthy is the fact that Americans are driving more efficient cars, and with the explosion of hybrids and next generation diesel engines, we’ll likely see significant declines in per capita consumption. Our airlines are saving fuel (those full planes are a pain in the ass, but it is effective) too. Watch out world, once again the good ole US of A will be leading the charge on efficiency! Don’t let the pundits confuse you—Gadabout is here to dispel myths and uncover truths!