California and US Dependence on Persian Gulf Oil
Trump’s advisors had to have told him that about 20% of the world’s oil comes through the Strait of Hormuz, where the drone was shot down, and the tankers were mined. This includes his friends, the Saudi’s, with their oil and their income source. The 2018 data is that about 17 million barrels per day pass through the Strait of Hormuz, and World oil usage is about 100 million barrels per day.
There are three East-West pipelines from the Persian Gulf states, which could avoid a Strait of Hormuz blockade. The pipelines have the capacity of 6.8 million barrels per day. Currently, 2.8 million barrels per day are unused, which is only 16% of the normal flow with tankers.
The following graphs include 2018 data on the Persian Gulf sources of oil, and the destinations of the oil, which pass through the Strait of Hormuz. In an October 11, 2018 article I used available data that Persian Gulf oil was 17% of US imports, which is now 18%. I also used that Persian Gulf oil was 8.5% of US oil consumption, which is now 7%. But I also pointed out that California dependence on Persian Gulf oil was 25%.
