US energy exports increase

Though the US imported almost three times as much energy as it exported in 2011, the ratio is much lower than the import peak in 2002, when energy imports were more than eight times energy exports, a U.S. government report released Monday shows. The country consumed more than 97 quadrillion Btu (quads) of energy in 2011, despite only producing about 78 quads, and the difference- about 18 quads- reflects the balance of imports and exports of energy, according to the report by the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Petroleum, which includes crude oil and petroleum products, accounted for a majority of both energy imports and exports, making up about 86 percent of the country's energy imports in 2011, the report says. Canada supplied the largest share of the U.S. petroleum imports in 2011, followed by Mexico, Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, and Nigeria. Overall, about 40 percent of U.S. petroleum imports came from countries in the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), while 60 percent came from non-OPEC countries such as Canada, Mexico, Russia, and Brazil, according to the report. Besides petroleum, most of the remaining energy imports were natural gas, making up 12 percent of the U.S. imports. All other fuel sources, including coal, coal coke, biofuels, and electricity, combined to account for about 2 percent of energy imports in 2011. Petroleum also made up 57 percent of U.S. energy exports in 2011. However, less than 2 percent of that exported petroleum was crude oil. Most of it was products derived from crude oil: petroleum products, unfinished oils, pentanes plus, and gasoline blending components, as the United States has some of the world's most advanced oil refineries, the EIA says. Other US energy exports include coal and coal coke, at 27 percent, natural gas, 15 percent, and a small amount of biofuels and electricity, according to the report.