text: Because the USA is greedy and uses more fuel, especially gasoline, that it extracts at present. The cost of extracting US oil is much higher than oil obtained from the Middle East as most countries there literally float on the stuff. Therefore, most US oil companies get their oil from the Middle East as US consumer always tend to kick up hell whenever the price goes up so the oil companies buy the cheapest crude oil they can find, which is in the Middle East.