The United States' refining capacity has not kept pace with demand. As a result the US is becoming more reliant on imported products.

America needs domestic facilities to source clean, secure, and reliable energy products.  U.S. petroleum consumption has increased by over 30% in the past 20 years, while our domestic crude oil production has dropped by almost 45%.  As a result, crude oil imports have more than doubled over the past two decades.

In addition to the United States' lack of domestic crude oil production, the US does not have the domestic refining capacity to keep up with current demand.  As a result the US has been importing over 160 million gallons (4+ million barrels) of refined product a day to meet demand.

 Source: Energy Information Administration: July 2007