The biggest producer of oil in the world is Russia, then Saudi-Arabia. In third place being a producer is the USA.
If the US is the worlds third biggest producer, and still needs to import huge quantities from other countries, the problem isn’t who makes it. It’s the US being Big Gulper. It would be good though to find new oil in the US. They found some resources outside California not long ago. Not much, but a puddle. Whatever they might find won’t fix the real problem though.
Now, almost every country in the world depends on foreign oil. Japan for instance depends on imports of just about everything. Is that a problem? No. Not really. The US has for a long time had a minus in trade balance without huge inflation. Now, one can speculate into why that is.
What the problem is, is environmental. That’s it. Rhetoric like giving money to some foreign Arabs, paying the enemy, supporting terrorism is unproductive.
Demand in the world is rising, and it seems no amount of Copenhagen conferences slows it down, and we will use oil up until it’s to costly to collect the last of it. Before that it will most likely be reserved for the military.
Other types of energy sources is definitely needed already, and has to start now. It seems as if nuclear power one of the most important forms of production we will have to rely on at the moment. The US is already planning to build many more than the 104 in existence. China plans and build them so fast they need foreign assistance to educate and man them.
It isn’t a great solution, neither is it a total solution to the demand. It is a energy-production-back-bone solution for most countries to consider. Other energy sources will still be needed. I believe decentralized and locally produced energy will make a big contribution as well.