[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 128 (Wednesday, September 23, 1998)]
[Senate]
[Page S10834]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




       U.S. FOREIGN OIL CONSUMPTION FOR WEEK ENDING SEPTEMBER 18

  Mr. Helms. Mr. President, the American Petroleum Institute reports 
that for the week ending September 18, the U.S. imported 7,411,000 
barrels of oil each day, 1,115,000 barrels a day less than the 
8,526,000 imported during the same week a year ago.
  While this is one of the rare weeks when Americans imported slightly 
less foreign oil than the same week a year ago, Americans nonetheless 
relied on foreign oil for 54 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 
7,411,000 barrels a day at a cost of approximately $89,006,110 a day.

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