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To gain trade with other countries and also gain profit. Depending on the location and type of oil, it is sometimes easier to sell oil (and buy it from others) than to use it domestically. The answer also has to do with the type of crude oils that are involved. Crudes have different components and contaminants. So a particular oil field may produce a crude which a particular domestic refinery does not refine. At the same time, since the nation needs a lot more crude than it can produce, it imports much of the types of crude which are refinable in the US.

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16y ago

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