U.S. May Have Hit Peak Oil Demand in 2007, Yergin Tells Panel

(Bloomberg) -- The upward price trend of oil could ease in the years ahead as U.S. demand may have peaked in 2007, a Pulitzer Prize winning energy author told a congressional panel today.

Daniel Yergin, chairman of Cambridge Energy Research Associates, told the Joint Economic Committee that oil prices are being driven by ``new fundamentals'' involving the merging of oil and financial markets. He added that the price of oil has hit a ``break point'' where the U.S. will begin to seek alternatives.

``In our view, 2007 may well have been the top, the break point in terms of U.S. gasoline demand,'' Yergin said in prepared testimony.

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Where Does the U.S. Get Its Oil?

The Editors | 13 Aug 2007
World Politics Review Exclusive

Ever wonder where the United States gets its oil? The chart below provides a snapshot of U.S. oil and oil products imports by country, based on the most recent data available from the Energy Information Administration.

In May 2007, the United States imported 439 million barrels of oil and oil products from more than 70 countries. North American sources dominated, with Canada and Mexico providing more than a quarter of U.S. imports. Mexico provides about the same amount of oil as Saudi Arabia. Elsewhere in the Western hemisphere, despite thorny relations, Hugo Chavez's Venezuela is the United States' fourth largest oil supplier. In Africa, Nigeria, Algeria and Angola are the biggest U.S. source countries.

The 15 countries charted below provided 85 percent of U.S. oil in the month of May, with 56 other countries making up the "long tail" of the U.S. oil supply.