We may complain about the Arabs because of oil and what they charge us. But in fact our biggest supplier is Canada.

In February 2008, U.S. crude oil imports from Canada amounted to 1.9 million barrels a day, according to the federal Energy Information Administration. Crude oil imports from Saudi Arabia were second at 1.6 million barrels a day, and Mexico was third with 1.2 million barrels a day. So we buy about twice as much crude from our neighbors in North America as we buy from the Saudis.

Saudi Arabia is still the world’s biggest producer of oil, followed by Russia in second place and the United States and Iran in third and fourth respectively.

The top exporters in order are Saudi Arabia, Russia, Norway and Iran.

And the top consumers are the United States, China, Japan and Russia in that order. The U.S. consumes about three times as much as second-place China.

The top importers are the U.S., followed by Japan, China and Germany.

These are facts to contemplate as we fill up the tank and contemplate the price. (hh)