OK, there is a little paranoid lunatic that runs a small country named Venezuela. He thinks that his 1.3 million barrels per day to the US should allow him to pretty much dictate whatever he wants. Unfortunately the rest of OPEC let him go on about his rabid ideas, much like they do with Iran. Soweiso, recently Venezuela nationalized the oil companies and offered terms that were horrible. Most of the companies bought into it but not all. Recently they took the matter to international court and won. Now the little ruler is trying to bully the world into siding with him. And word is that they have already shifted banks to get out of having their assets frozen.

His latest threat? Cut all oil supplies to the US. That 1.3 mbd makes us the biggest customer he has at the moment and yet it only accounts for barely 4 percent of our imports. We could open one or two domestic oil fields and not need a single drop from them and, at the same time, doom the country to collapse. What will work against us is the fact that for many Americans, Venezuela is seen as the most influential country in Latin America.

Americans need to be better at conservation, without destroying our economy (but the weak dollar that is the cornerstone of this administration's policy is killing us). More and more hybrids are hitting the road as are more fuel efficient gasoline vehicles. Compact fluorescent lighting is gaining in popularity and we can expect to see some affordable home LED lighting within the next few years. Plus homeowners have more and more access to green energy, unlike anything we have seen before. Will we also see the age of the green collar worker soon?

In the next few years I will probably purchase a hybrid vehicle. The Prius looks promising but then some of the concept cars by American manufacturers are looking good too. It will be a decision based on available dollars. The hot water heater will be replaced by a solar hot water heater, something that I originally wanted. Or maybe I should build my own? I also priced geo-thermal heat pumps but those are well out of my range for now.

The best thing we can continue to do is reduce consumption in any way possible. Also be sure to recycle, especially plastics. Oh and stock up on Nestle because he is going after foreign milk producers next.

See also:
Basic Petroleum Data
Oil Consumption by Country
How much gasoline does the United States consume in one year?
Fact Sheet: The Economic Report of the President