[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 99 (Wednesday, July 22, 1998)]
[Senate]
[Page S8776]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




         U.S. FOREIGN OIL CONSUMPTION FOR WEEK ENDING JULY 17TH

  Mr. HELMS. Mr. President, the American Petroleum Institute has 
reported that for the week ending July 17 that the U.S. imported 
8,750,000 barrels of oil each day, 605,000 barrels a day more than the 
8,145,000 imported during the same week a year ago.
  Americans relied on foreign oil for 58.1 percent of their needs last 
week. There are no signs that the upward spiral will abate. Before the 
Persian Gulf War, the United States imported about 45 percent of its 
oil supply from foreign countries. During the Arab oil embargo in the 
1970s, foreign oil accounted for only 35 percent of America s oil 
supply.
  All Americans should ponder the economic calamity certain to occur in 
the U.S. if and when foreign producers shut off our supply--or double 
the already enormous cost of imported oil flowing into the U.S.: now 
8,750,000 barrels a day at a cost of approximately $98,875,000 a day.

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