“Would be better off refining it here and using it to reduce our dependence on foreign oil.”
My recollection. Environmentalists stopped the construction of new refineries. That did not stop refiners from improving existing plants. For many years we lacked refining capacity, maybe we still do.
Are we still importing oil? It wouldn’t seem to make sense to both export and import oil. However there are different grades/uses for oil, so maybe it does make sense.
There is a lot to consider here and the only people motivated to think things through are the people in the business.
And shut down existing refineries as well.