Given recent news that the US is now the largest oil producer in the world, I'm interested in the import/export levels historically. I know the embargo on oil exports to Japan was a factor in their decision to attack Pearl Harbour and the British and Dutch bases in South East Asia, but I also heard the US has been a big producer of oil for many decades. I also know SE Asia had other materials the US economy needed, but am a little unclear on what those were. Was it the case that US demand outstripped domestic production, or was the US not reliant on SE Asian oil?
The US at the start of WW2 was the largest oil producers at 1940. In this graph here the US produces 182 million of metric tons of oil each year. It was out producing almost every other top oil producing countries on the list combined.
The US didn’t really rely on Dutch East Indies too much aside from one resource: rubber. Most of the rubber in the world came from the East Indies. Rubber is mostly used for tires and tank treads. For a country to commit to this new mobile warfare where you need trucks and other vehicles to keep with the tanks, it’s really important to have rubber to keep your vehicles working properly. The US would solve this shortage with synthetic rubber and it would be fine during the rest of the war.
The US didn’t really rely too much from SE Asia aside from rubber and maybe a few other resources. But the US made more than enough oil for itself and didn’t really have anyone undercutting them yet.