Subject: Re: One Possible Tariff Endgame
Dope1: We don't import Canadian oil because we need oil, btw. We import it to refine it and ship it elsewhere.

That's incorrect. We need it to keep our refineries running, especially in the Midwest. And we do use it after it's refined (we also export some overseas and even return some back to Canada, after refinement).

Most American refineries are set up for the kinds of heavy crudes you get from Canada, Mexico and Venezuela. That made sense when it looked as if the US was running out of domestic oil, but then came the shale oil revolution. American shale oil, it turns out, is typically light and high quality, meaning it is not best-suited for domestic refineries. The upshot is that while arithmetically America is energy independent – producing far more oil than it consumes – in practice it is anything but. It must keep sucking in heavy oils from elsewhere to feed its refineries while sending Texan crude off to Europe and Asia to be refined.


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