Welcome to brain Stuff, a production of iHeart Radio, Hey, brain Stuff, Flour and vogebam here. Doomsday scenarios what will we do when we run out of oil are nothing new. For decades, analysts and industry experts have been trying to predict when the world's oil supply might be critically low or dry up altogether, and what the results might be. The United States has been investing in renewable energy to help reduce its dependence on petroleum based fuels and thus
the amount of oil it imports. In nineteen alone, the US invested fifty nine billion dollars, up from only six billion in two thousand four. But is weaning off of oil even possible? Let's consider the factors involved in this multi pronged question. Currently, the United States is the largest oil producer in the world, followed by Saudi Arabia, Russia, and Nada. Oil here includes crude oil and all other
petroleum liquids plus biofuels. As of March eight two, the US Energy Information Administration or e i a S preliminary data for one suggest that the US had a total petroleum production output of about sixteen point six million barrels per day. But the US consumed about nineteen point eight million barrels per day, and you have to take into consideration that the U S exports oil as well. In one, the United States exported about eight point six million barrels
of petroleum a day. That all went to around a hundred and seventy six countries plus for US territories, but there are imports of petroleum to the United States to that number was about eight point four million barrels per day. What that means is in one for the second year in a row, the United States was an net petroleum exporter, meaning we exported more than we imported, and these past two years have been the first time we've been in
net exporter since at least ninety nine. Even when we do use less petroleum than we produce, we still import some. According to the e i A. That's to help supply domestic demand. The US also maintains a valuable stockpile of crude oil and its Strategic Petroleum Reserve, though there are strict rules on when that oil can be drawn down. Some experts say importing some foreign oil isn't necessarily a bad thing, even for net exporting countries like the US.
The a S Director for Energy Markets and Security case case Autamori testified during a Senate hearing in saying, quote, even for net exporting countries, imports can still play a critical role helping overcome issues related to crude qualities, differences and refined product demand and domestic refining capacities, or geographical mismatches between production and consumption. So again, the real question that needs answering is how long can the global supply
of crude oil last. The United States certainly isn't as reliant on other countries for crude oil as it was even fifteen years ago, when it was producing only around five thousand barrels a day. The e i A says that one often cited but misleading way to gauge the future of oil reserves is the reserves to production ratio. That's calculated by dividing the volume of total proved reserves
by the volume of current annual consumption. But the e i A says that because proved reserves are based on known projects, they're not applicable for estimating total resource availability over the long term. Instead, it says global oil reserves should increase as new technologies come online at existing oil fields. And of course, there will be competition from renewable energy
in the future. To consider two. The e i A explains its view of the future and its Annual Energy Outlook, which is a yearly assessment of the world energy market. Key points for the United States from one, which were released on March three, include that petroleum and natural gas are likely to remain the most consumed sources of energy in the US through but renewable energy is the fastest
growing segment. Also, wind and solar incentives, along with falling technology costs, are creating robust competition with natural gas for electricity generation. Meanwhile, the shares of coal and nuclear power are decreasing. The report also expects the US to remain a net exporter of total liquids and a net importer of crude oil, even though our production of crude oil
has reached record highs. The Biden Harris administration is working toward energy independence with several new green energy investments for the US, including the Building Performance Standards Coalition, the Methane Emissions Reduction Action Plan, the five billion dollar National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Formula Program, and hundreds of new solar, wind
and storage projects across the country. But to cut dependence on foreign oil altogether, the United States and the world must cut its addiction to oil entirely, and we're still a long way from that reality. Today's episode is based on the article will the US ever end its dependence on foreign oil? On how stuff Works dot Com? Written by Streets Throwitt and Sarah Glin. Brain Stuff is production by Heart Radio in partnership with houstuffworks dot Com, and
it's produced by Tyler Klang. For more podcasts from my heart Radio, visit the i heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.