Over the next seven years, two of our top sources of oil imports may cut us off. Just last year, Mexico and Venezuela sold us 2.9 million barrels per day to fuel our cars and heat our homes, over 20% of our import demand. But Mexico’s oil production is falling more than 5% per year while their domestic consumption rises. Thus, most analysts predict Mexican oil exports to be nonexistent by ~2015. And Venezuela is signing deals with China to send more of its exports there over the next few years even though their production is currently stagnating.
As the Southeast experiences the crippling effects of fuel shortages, planning to replace this oil over the next seven years is critical if we are to (more…)