[greycol]

There are refeniries dependent on the Persian Gulf region(PGR) but the majority of countries are dependent on the the general commodities market of downstream products. The US famously produces more oil than it uses and is not generally receiving fuel that's downstream of the PGR and yet if you look at the gas prices in the US you'll realise that it's not as simple as being reliant on fossil fuels from the PGR.

That's without taking into account other things like high grade helium or specific niche products.

[AnotherGoodName]

The us imports more crude oil than it exports. An easily looked up fact.

The us does export more refined products than it imports but it’s highly dependent on crude imports for it’s significant refining capacity.

[greycol]

Yes but crude is not really fungible. About 14% of US crude imports are effected which is about 8% of overall crude refining.

By the US not being reliant on imports I was saying that even with just local crude oil production the US can satisfy internal demand for petroleum products.

My wider point is that of course everyone knows that that's not how the economy really works and I was replying to nradov oversimplifying by pointing out that if it was that simple US petrol prices wouldn't have gone up as much as they did. Because even though it's only a few countries with specific refineries that are actually reliant on the straight being open to get their specific required flavour of crude it's everyone in the refined markets that are actually effected by the supply of that crude because it effects the supply those refined products.