With U.S. consumers, economists and legislators fretting about rising gasoline prices and the lack of an energy policy, Hart Energy Research analyzed U.S. Census Bureau nominal cost data showing the trillion-dollar cost of crude oil imported into the U.S. Our analysis found that oil-import costs in 2011 were more than four times the amount paid out a decade ago—and close to nine times that amount two decades ago, in 1991.

U.S. oil imports cost US$29.1 billion in December 2011 alone, a record for the month and nearly double the total for December 2008. That year the U.S. imported a record $341 billion worth of oil. For full-year 2011, the $331.7-billion import price was about $10 billion behind the 2008 peak.

As triple-digit crude prices have set in, perhaps becoming the “new normal,” crude import costs have escalated strongly.

In aggregate, the cost of imported crude oil over the past five years nearly equals that of the preceding two decades. For 2007 through 2011, the combined cost of imported crude was $1.35 trillion. For the 20 years before this, from 1987 to 2006, imported crude cost $1.39 trillion.

The combined cost of imported crude oil over the past five years ($1.35 trillion from 2007-2011) nearly equals that spent over the preceeding 20 years ($1.39 trillion from 1987-2006).

Consumers are aware of costly gasoline and oil prices. Politicians of all stripes should make it a policy priority to mitigate this massive transfer of wealth out of the U.S.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) composite annual refinery crude-acquisition-cost data show $76.69 per barrel and $101.79 per barrel for 2010 and 2011, respectively. The corresponding census data for 2010 and 2011 show average annual imported oil costs of $74.67 and $99.78 per barrel, respectively.

Despite sizable discounts for Canadian heavy crude, the Obama Administration refused to permit TransCanada Corp.’s Keystone XL pipeline expansion. Gulf Coast refiners remain cut off due to inadequate pipeline infrastructure. They must continue to rely on higher-cost waterborne imports from Venezuela, Mexico and elsewhere.

The Bloomberg February 29 spot price for Western Canadian crude at Hardisty, Alberta, was $72.56 per barrel, versus $110.62 per barrel for the comparable Mexican Maya heavy crude imported to the Gulf Coast. At these prices, and neglecting transportation differentials, American refiners and drivers will pay the import bill for Maya and similar heavy crudes acquired via waterborne tankers. These are currently priced 52.5% higher than comparable crudes available from our close ally to the north.

Is there a bright spot amid these harsh economic realities? Yes. The U.S. imported less oil in recent years. In 2011, the nation imported some 9.11 million barrels per day, down from 9.25 million of imports in 2010. Resurgent domestic oil production has reversed a decade-long decline rate with unconventional oil being produced from the Bakken, Permian Basin, Eagle Ford, Niobrara and Utica. Continued output from conventional sources has also helped reverse the decline in domestic production.

But even so, the $331.7-billion tab for imported crude represented over half of the U.S. international trade deficit in goods and services in 2011 and 2010. That deficit stood at $558 billion in 2011. In 2010, the U.S. imported $252.2 billion of crude oil and ran up a $500-billion trade deficit. These stark figures contrast with data showing oil imports were less than 25% of the U.S. deficit in the past decade.

Looking into 2012, many risks to oil supply are on the horizon. The most prominent would occur if Iran makes good on threats to close the Strait of Hormuz, a crude-oil-tanker chokepoint in the Middle East. Just the threat of this event has affected market prices and outlooks.

In its March 2012 Short Term Energy Outlook, the EIA increased its estimate of refinery average acquisition costs to $115 per barrel for 2012 and $110 for 2013 (up from $103.44 and $105.77, respectively, for January’s estimates).

High oil-import costs imperil our national security and economy. It is high time for a national energy policy that builds the requisite infrastructure to better connect North America’s resurgent oil production with U.S. refineries and thereby reverse the pernicious effects of expensive oil imports.