United States proven oil reserves declined to a little less than 21 gigabarrels
as of 2006 according to the
Energy Information Administration, a 46% decline from the 39 gigabarrels it had in 1970 when the huge
Alaska North Slope ('ANS') reserves were booked. With production of around 5 million barrels per day
as of 2006, this represents about an 11 year supply of oil at current rates. With consumption at 21 million barrels per day (7.7 gigabarrels per year) (2007), US reserves alone could satisfy US demand for only three years.
No oil fields of similar size to the ANS reserves have been found in the US since 1970. With over 2.3 million wells having been drilled in the US since 1949,
[31] there are very few unexplored areas left where another supergiant oil field is likely to be found.[
citation needed] US oil reserve numbers are very accurate compared to those of most other countries.
United States
crude oil production peaked in late 1970 at over 4 gigabarrels per year, but declined to 1.8 gigabarrels per year
as of 2006. At the same time, US consumption of
petroleum products increased to over 7.3 gigabarrels per year. The difference ( 5.5 gigabarrels ) was mostly made up by imports, with the largest supplier being Canada, which increased its exports of crude oil and refined products to the US to 0.8 gigabarrels per year
as of 2005. Imports of oil and products now account for nearly half of the US trade deficit.
As of 2007, the Energy Information Agency (EIA) of the U.S. Department of Energy projected that in 2007 oil consumption would rise to 20.9 million barrels per day, while oil production would fall to 5.1 million barrels per day, meaning that oil consumption would be nearly four times as high as oil production.
[32]