The United States produces more oil than any country on Earth. It also imports over six million barrels a day. Both of those things are true at the same time. Here's why.

The oil America drills is mostly light and sweet — low sulfur, easy to refine. But about seventy percent of our refineries were built decades ago to process heavy, sour crude — the thick, high-sulfur oil from Canada, the Middle East, and Venezuela. So we export the oil we drill to refineries overseas that can use it, and we import the heavy crude our own refineries were designed for.

It sounds absurd. But retooling a single refinery to switch crude types costs hundreds of millions of dollars and takes years. So instead, we trade.

That's why "energy independence" is misleading. We have plenty of oil. It's just not the right oil for our own refineries. And even if it were, the price is still set on a world market.

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The U.S. is the world's largest oil producer AND a major importer. The U.S. produces roughly 13.8 million barrels per day — more than any country in history. It also imports about 6.2 million barrels per day and exports about 4 million. The "net petroleum exporter" label that politicians cite includes natural gas liquids and refined products, not just crude oil — which is like calling a country that exports wine and imports grain a "net agricultural exporter." (EIA; Poynter/PolitiFact)

The crude oil mismatch: U.S. shale produces mostly light, sweet crude (low sulfur, API gravity above 40). But roughly 70% of U.S. refinery capacity was built to process heavy, sour crude — the thick, high-sulfur oil historically imported from Canada, the Middle East, and Venezuela. About 90% of U.S. crude imports are heavier than domestically produced shale crude. (American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers; EIA)

Why not just retool the refineries? Switching a refinery from heavy to light crude processing costs $100 million to $1 billion per facility and takes years. With dozens of refineries nationwide, the total investment would be enormous. Canada remains the primary source of heavy crude imports — about 65% of all U.S. crude imports. (Drilling Maps)

Even solving the mismatch wouldn't fix the price. Oil is globally priced. A disruption anywhere — whether in the Strait of Hormuz or a Gulf Coast hurricane — raises prices everywhere, regardless of how much the U.S. produces or how well-matched its refineries are. (FactCheck.org)

Related Civic Minute segments: Oil Is a Global Commodity (CM-23), Does Drilling More Lower Gas Prices? (CM-24), What Energy Independence Actually Means (CM-38)