 There's an abundant - and safe - supply of Oilheat to keep all of America warm and comfortable for many years to come.
In the United States today, 9.5 million households use Oilheat. Based on an average of 2.6 or more persons per household, it is estimated that over 24.5 million consumers in our nation benefit from heating oil each year.1
In the chart to the right you will see just how important fuel oil has become in heating American homes.
Where does our oil come from?
Three of the top five countries we import oil from are Canada (our largest provider), Mexico, and Saudi Arabia. The top five exporting countries accounted for 66 percent of United States crude oil imports in June 2006 while the top ten sources accounted for approximately 85 percent of all U.S. crude oil imports.2
Eighty-five percent of our oil is refined in the United States, at 149 refineries in 31 states.
Crude Oil Imports Top 10 Countries, March 2006
A Safe Supply for the U.S.A.
One of the most important security measures our nation has taken in recent years involves our petroleum supplies. Much of our domestic petroleum storage remains well protected in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, established in 1975 by President Gerald R. Ford, to ensure a safeguarded, constant fuel supply. The Reserve has a capacity of 720 million barrels of crude oil that can be released by the President during emergency conditions. President Bush released 23 million barrels from the SPR to help meet the country's petroleum demands following the devastation of Hurricane Katrina.
The Energy Policy Act of 2005 directs the Secretary of Energy to fill the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) to it authorized one billion barrel capacity. This will require the Department of Energy to complete proceedings to select sites necessary to expand the SPR to one billion barrels.3
Strategic Petroleum Reserve Facts:
- Located at two sites in southeast Texas and two in southwest Louisiana, the Reserve is stored in giant salt dome formations and is the largest emergency oil stockpile in the world.
- Together, the facilities and crude oil represent more than a $20 billion national investment.
- Oil can be released from the Reserve and delivered into the marketplace within 13 days.
- Oil can be pumped from the Reserve at a maximum rate of 4.3 million barrels per day for up to 90 days.
- At 1 million barrels per day, the Reserve can release oil into the market continuously for nearly two years.
- In addition the United States maintains the Northeast Heating Oil Reserve of 2 million barrels of heating oil.
Established within the last decade, the 2-million-barrel Northeast Heating Oil Reserve is to be used in case of supply shortages or delivery problems in nine states from Maine to Pennsylvania. Stored in multiple locations in the Northeast, this product can be released by the President if there is an actual disruption in supply, or when the price of heating oil increases rapidly compared to crude oil. It provides added insurance when demand peaks, but has never been called upon in its history, even in the devastating aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. In nearly a century of service to homeowners through wars, extreme cold weather and natural disasters, the heating oil industry has always had a history of delivering fuel to its customers when needed.4
1 Source: National Oilheat Research Alliance
2 Source: EIA
3,4 Source: U.S. Department of Energy
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