How Has the Amount of Oil the US Imports Changed over Time?

United States imports of oil have risen by about 50 percent since 1980. In the early 1980s, the U.S. imported about 40 percent of the oil it consumed; by 2009, that amount had risen to almost 60 percent. As of 2007, the U.S. was consuming more than 20.6 million barrels of oil per day — more than double the amount consumed by China, the next-biggest consumer of oil.

More facts on oil consumption:

• The U.S. state that consumes the most barrels of oil per year is Texas, which uses more than a billion barrels of oil annually. That's more than the next two top oil consuming states — California and Florida — combined.


• The top oil-producing nations are Saudi Arabia, Russia and the United States, each of which produce between 8 million and 10 million barrels of oil per day.


• The U.S. consumes more barrels of oil per day than all of Europe.