Talk about Elephants in the room..

[G_j]

http://www.energybulletin.net/node/13199


The US military oil consumption
by Sohbet Karbuz

The US Department of Defense (DoD) is the largest oil consuming government body in the US and in the world

“Military fuel consumption makes the Department of Defense the single largest consumer of petroleum in the U.S”

“Military fuel consumption for aircraft, ships, ground vehicles and facilities makes the DoD the single largest consumer of petroleum in the U.S”

According to the US Defense Energy Support Center Fact Book 2004, in Fiscal Year 2004, the US military fuel consumption increased to 144 million barrels. This is about 40 million barrels more than the average peacetime military usage.

By the way, 144 million barrels makes 395 000 barrels per day, almost as much as daily energy consumption of Greece.

The US military is the biggest purchaser of oil in the world.

In 1999 Almanac edition of the Defense Logistic Agency’s news magazine Dimensions it was stated that the DESC “purchases more light refined petroleum product than any other single organization or country in the world. With a $3.5 billion annual budget, DESC procures nearly 100 million barrels of petroleum products each year. That's enough fuel for 1,000 cars to drive around the world 4,620 times.”

..more..



http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN20416568



FACTBOX-US military fuel spending
Thu Mar 20, 2008 2:58pm EDT

U.S. military fuel consumption dwarfs energy demand in many countries around the world, adding up to nearly double the fuel use in Ireland and 20 times more than that of Iceland, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.

From the start of the Iraq war in 2003 up till 2007, U.S. military fuel consumption has slipped by about 10 percent, but costs more than doubled due surging oil prices.

Following are the latest figures on the cost and amounts of fuel purchased by the U.S. military over the course of the Iraq war:

U.S. MILITARY FUEL SPENDING:^

2003: $ 5.21 billion

2007: $12.61 billion

Percentage increase: 142 percent

U.S MILITARY FUEL CONSUMPTION

2003: 145.1 million barrels

(397,500 barrels per day)

2007: 132.5 million barrels

(363,000 barrels per day)

Percentage change: -9.5 percent

2007 U.S. MILITARY FUEL CONSUMPTION EQUALS

- 90 percent more than Ireland's annual consumption

- 38 percent more than Israel's annual consumption

- 20 times Iceland's annual consumption

- 1.7 percent of U.S. annual consumption

AVERAGE ESTIMATED CRUDE OIL PRICE PER BARREL:

2003: $32.50

2007: $72.50

CRUDE OIL PRICE CHANGE SINCE BEGINNING OF IRAQ WAR:

March 19, 2003: $ 29.88*

March 19, 2008: $103.25*

Percentage increase: 245 percent


<snip>

[BeFree]

1. Wow

BP is rich because of the US buying oil from them.

No wonder they can order the CG around.

Are we screwed, or what?

[G_j]

2. while I completely agree that we all need to learn conservation

and shrink our personal footprints, we can't continue to ignore the MIC and it's insatiable use of oil.

[BeFree]

3. That's right

I am in favor of reducing the DoD budget by at least 50%.
That has always been my position.
Years ago, even here on DU, it was very unpopular.
It still is not a popular position.

[G_j]

4. yes

it should be obvious, but it is almost taboo to bring it up in most places.
the sacred cow...

[obxhead]

7. To hell with that!

75 to 80% seems like a much more logical number. Bring all the troops and toys from all over the globe home. Spend OUR money on US, not fighting a cold war thats been over for 2 decades.

[glitch]

11. Incredible potential for energy savings right there

without even investing in and developing new technologies. If we halved their budget and took that money and invested in new technologies we'd have a multiplier effect.

Too bad the entrenched Military Industrial Welfare State won't allow it.

[Karenina]

14. In passing I read that BP supplies 80% of it. Have you seen that bandied about?

[G_j]

15. I would like to know also

that would be telling, it's worth a search:

====
According to USASpending.gov, BP has received more than $9 billion in defense contracts since 2000. Contracts with Veterans Affairs, Transportation, Commerce and other federal agencies total additional millions.
====

http://www.badlandsjournal.com/2010-05-24/007534

BP and the Pentagon

Submitted: May 24, 2010
By:
Badlands Journal editorial board

BP's ace in the hole is its contracts with the US Department of Defense, the largest oil consumer in the world. While the military is fighting two wars, one for oil wells (Iraq), the other for pipeline routes (Afghanistan and Pakistan), one of the Pentagon's most favored oil companies commits one of worst oil spill on record and it is still spilling, unabated. Because of BP's military contracts, the government may not impose serious sanctions on the company. It could become "a matter of national security" that BP not be punished. The wars were are fighting for oil are being fueled to a significant extent by BP from wells in the US and Gulf of Mexico.

The civilian government is helpless and is in fact continuing to permit new drilling in the Gulf. It can't stop the spill itself and has little control over BP's efforts. This situation is leading to cynical speculations about the government and BP, for example: pollution of the coastline is just a political obstacle to overcome on the way to full build out of drilling rigs in the Gulf. What is the entire population of the coast worth in comparison to the influence of a few oil companies?

The bribery that is intrinsic to the American political system has hollowed out every institution created to defend citizens against corporations, from the myth of the "freely elected member of Congress" to any form of agency enforcement of law -- particularly regarding the environment. Relations between the Pentagon and the oil companies take place in an entirely "democracy-free zone." These are things that should not concern us and the government would have us believe are not our business. The profits are all theirs, the costs are all ours. We cannot compare the BP oil spill to the amount of depleted uranium dumped by bombs on Iraq and Afghanistan but we don't have to compare to get the point that America's imperial wars are immense profit centers for corporations and the officials that do business with them for whom "national security" is a pretext, not a goal.

Badlands Journal editorial board

[Scuba]

5. More planes! More subs! Fewer teachers!

[Citizen Worker]

6. Defense spending the only domestic jobs program

Consider the possibilities for infrastructure development if we cut defense spending by 50%. And the world would be much safer if we defanged our imperialist maw.

[Kablooie]

8. Don't cha just love how we police the world to ensure all America's needs are met.

But then we ignore the needs of all of us that live here.

[dixiegrrrrl]

9. Don'tcha just love that we burn up all that oil

in a quest to control the global oil supply?

[Hydra]

10. Irony is writ large

But consider they will move to the next thing when it runs out. Water next?

[glitch]

12. Yet another vampire squid, sucking the life blood from this planet. nt

[unhappycamper]

13. IIRC the US Air Force used 4.2 billion gallons of avgas last year. n/t