http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/rankorder/2178rank.html
American oil reserves are 22,450,000,000 barrels
http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/25opec/sld007.htm
As of 1997 America was consuming 18,600,000 barrels a day.
So in other words if America would have stopped importing oil during the last oil crisses(oil embargoes) in the 70s you would be completely without oil right now and very much in a crisses in the case of another oil embargoe.
http://web.naplesnews.com/03/03/naples/d925444a.htm
"oil remains the fuel of economic growth," according to Daniel Yergin, chairman of Cambridge Energy Research Associates and author of prize-winning books on globalization and world oil.
A $15-a-barrel rise slows world growth a full percentage point, but that number may lowball the impact when "a surge in oil prices undermines consumer and business confidence, hitting both spending and investment and how it affects stock prices," International Monetary Fund chief economist Kenneth Rogoff has warned.
The United States today is not only the world's most powerful nation but also the greatest debtor nation, depending heavily on foreigners to finance our federal debt, keep up our standard of living and cover a $500-billion-a-year trade deficit.