Gas Prices Not Really Impacted By Oil Import Levels, Oceana Reports (INFOGRAPHIC)

Are gas prices impacted by the source of countries' oil? The graphic below, from Oceana, suggests that how much oil a country imports does not affect gas prices.

Rather, the group "found that while gasoline prices vary greatly among these five nations, the variation is almost entirely attributable to variation in gasoline taxes," according to an Oceana email sent to HuffPost. "Once these taxes are factored out, gasoline prices are largely the same across the five nations, despite marked differences in how much oil is sourced domestically versus via imports. This shows that gasoline prices are largely independent of how much oil a country imports or produces domestically, or, in simpler terms, we cannot drill our way to lower gasoline prices.”

A 2012 study, of "36 years of monthly, inflation-adjusted gasoline prices and U.S. domestic oil production," by the Associated Press found that there is "no statistical correlation between how much oil comes out of U.S. wells and the price at the pump."

A May report from the Natural Resources Defense Council found that if built, the proposed Keystone XL pipeline could actually raise domestic gasoline prices, reported HuffPost's Lucia Graves. Report author and NRDC attorney Anthony Swift said, "Our study has found that Keystone XL is likely to both decrease the amount of gasoline in U.S. refineries for domestic markets and increase the cost of producing it, leading to even higher prices at the pump."

Earlier this week, Reuters reported that the average price of gasoline in the U.S. fell nearly 16 cents in the previous week. The drop is a result of a decline in crude oil prices, fueled by "fears over Europe's economy and a stronger dollar," according to Reuters. A recent survey of Americans by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found that three quarters of Republicans and 34 percent of Democrats "cite government limits on drilling as a major reason for energy problems."

Infographic courtesy of Oceana.

Also on HuffPost:

Comments

[theotherselber]

11:17 AM on 07/13/2012

Since you enjoyed this infographic, you'd probably enjoy an infographic about mobility in the oil and gas industry http://blog.chaione.com/infographic-mobilize-the-oil-gas-enterprise

[north of 60]

04:38 PM on 06/15/2012

Shift the transportation energy source from oil to gas and then domestic reserves can meet America's energy needs.

[sarabono]

09:53 PM on 06/15/2012

And our balance of payments will improve dramatically .....

[mp146]

06:29 AM on 06/30/2012

Or we could use the kind of diesel Europeans use, their diesel cars are bigger and have better gas/mileage than our hybrids and GM and Ford manufactures those cars in Europe.

[Bullitt08]

12:17 PM on 06/15/2012

"This shows that gasoline prices are largely independent of how much oil a country imports or produces domestically, or, in simpler terms, we cannot drill our way to lower gasoline prices.”

Couldn't be more wrong!!!

Assuming that domestic production is increased to exceed domest demand...

With the right oil export tariffs and/or outright limits on oil exports, it is quite easy to keep domestic prices lower than international market prices. An crude oil export tariff of the greater of $10.00 a barrel or 10% of the sale price per barrel would make it cheaper to sell oil domestically and generate much needed tax revenues.

There are a bunch of other tools available to increase the price of oil exports:

1. Higher port fees.
2. Require that all ships entering US waters comply with Federal, State, and Local air pollution regulations.
3. Require that all ballast water be discharged into a water treatment system designed to eliminate harmful, invasive, and non-native species from entering US waters.

Obviously these kinds of things will tend to reduce profit margins of oil producers, but who cares?

[OkieMon]

08:14 AM on 06/15/2012

clearly the price of oil/gasoline has a direct inflationary effect on the price of everything else....this is most demonstrated by the first oil shock of the 1970s when republican president nixon instituted price controls to counteract the huge inflationary effects of the 3 to 15 dollar a barrel oil shock in 1973 alone.....we are experiencing the same inflationary effects of the bush 150 dollar a barrel oil shock of 2008.....of course nobody now has the ba88888lls to try to do anything so drastic about the resultant inflation....

[Zariana]

04:53 AM on 06/15/2012

Oil is a global commodity and is priced that way. The price of gas is primarily due to the price of crude. More data to support those statements = good.

So basically the Oceana study refutes the conclusion by the NRDC that the Keystone pipeline will cause increase in US gas prices, as the price of gas is pretty unaffected by local supply (and hence export).

[grappler1987]

11:25 PM on 06/14/2012

"A recent survey of Americans by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found that three quarters of Republicans and 34 percent of Democrats "cite government limits on drilling as a major reason for energy problems."

But the survey doesn't associate that with gasoline prices. The next sentence says "85 percent say it is a serious problem that the United States needs to buy energy from other countries."

Imports are bad. Domestic production means jobs.

Does the survey mention gasoline prices at all?

[grappler1987]

11:19 PM on 06/14/2012

"This shows that gasoline prices are largely independent of how much oil a country imports or produces domestically, or, in simpler terms, we cannot drill our way to lower gasoline prices.”

Regardless, imports are bad. Domestic production is better. Net exports is the best. Ask China. They understand that, which is why they have the jobs.