[fallujah-nuker]

Even now the cost of oil is not what we pay directly for oil. Indirect cost would include military action to keep oil fields and transportation available.

Excellent point. I recall reading somewhere (prior to 9-11) that we spent about sixty billion dollars a year to secure the flow of oil from the Mideast. That amount to a taxpayer subsidy for oil imports, right now we import about four billion barrel bbl per year, that works out to a subsidy of $15 per bbl.

What goes unmentioned is the role that free trade has had in getting the US dependent upon the free flow of Mideast oil, even if we ourselves get most of our imports elsewhere. Knowing that OPEC can drop the price once there is a glut to wipe out synthetic oil keeps the industry from developing. Free trade and energy independence are mutually incompatible.

[SauronOfMordor]

What goes unmentioned is the role that free trade has had in getting the US dependent upon the free flow of Mideast oil, even if we ourselves get most of our imports elsewhere. Knowing that OPEC can drop the price once there is a glut to wipe out synthetic oil keeps the industry from developing. Free trade and energy independence are mutually incompatible.

What's needed is a tariff on imported oil, to permanently change the economics in favor of domestic production