The Effect of Imports of Crude Oil and Petroleum Products on the National
Security (003-009-00684-8) December 1994 - Price $10
Available
for Purchase
At the request of the Independent Petroleum Association of America and several other industry associations, the Department of Commerce/Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) conducted an investigation under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, as amended, to determine the effect of imports of crude oil and refined petroleum products on U.S. national security. The report found that since the previous Section 232 Petroleum finding in 1988 (see Effects of Crude Oil and Refined Petroleum Product Imports on the National Security, January 1989), there had been some improvement in U.S. energy security. The breakup of the Soviet Union and the apparent disarray within OPEC have enhanced U.S. energy security. Lower oil prices on balance have benefited the U.S. economy. However, factors leading toward a contraction of the U.S. petroleum industry and, as a result, a growing import dependence, led BIS to find that petroleum imports threaten to impair the national security.