Oil Producers Consume Too

Most countries of the world depend on oil imports to meet their needs. For imports to be available, there must of course be a few exporting countries to supply that demand. And of course those exporting countries have populations that want to use oil in their own cars as well. There is the rub. The handful of oil exporters are experiencing increasing internal consumption as well as stagnant or declining oil production. That means the amount they can export must drop.

Consider for example the case of Saudi Arabia, the world's foremost oil exporter. The following statistics from 2005 show their growth:

Growth in GDP

6.3%

Growth in Oil Consumption

11%

Growth in Population

2.18%

Median Population Age

21.4

Growth in Auto Sales

10%

Trade Surplus

$120 Billion

Clearly Saudi Arabia is a young country and they are flush with cash from selling all their oil. And they want to buy cars and use some of that oil for themselves. As would anybody. The result is clear. A rich country that is increasing auto sales by 10% and internal oil consumption by 11% a year as its young kids seek the modern lifestyle will not be able to keep up its exports. Examples like this make it clear that we can expect permanently higher oil and gasoline prices in the near future. So let's start learning how to save on gas now while the pain level is low!