Ethanol Consumption Gains On Saudi Oil In U.S.

Bloomberg Government (h/t the Big Picture):

This Bloomberg Government Chart of the Day compares, in logarithmic scale, consumption of U.S. fuel-based ethanol, derived largely from corn, with U.S. imports of crude oil from Saudi Arabia, based on data from the Energy Department’s Energy Information Administration.  The gap between fuel-ethanol use and crude oil imports from Saudi Arabia totaled 45 million barrels in January of 2000.  That gap has narrowed to 8.4 million barrels in April.
The U.S. government has supported the ethanol industry through a series of tax credits and tariffs.  In addition President George W. Bush signed legislation in 2005 mandating how much ethanol should be in gasoline consumed in the U.S.  The volume under this Renewable Fuel Standard was 9 billion gallons in 2008.

The mandated volume will reach 15 billion gallons by 2015, the same amount of crude oil the U.S. imported from Saudi Arabia in 2009.   Saudi Arabia dropped from being the top single source of crude oil for the U.S. in 2000 to the third-biggest in 2010, behind Canada and Mexico, according to the Energy Information Administration.

What a terrible program.  It may be putting money in my pocket, but next year, the corn market is going to be a mess.  The madness must stop.