Inside Report (2)

The good news: US imports of foreign oil have dropped by one-third.

The bad news: Despite this reduction, oil imports still make up 40 percent of total US consumption.

According to preliminary figures for 1981 from the American Petroleum Institute, Americans consumed an average of 5.7 million barrels per day of imported and 8.6 million barrels of domestic oil.

The reasons for the sharp decline are threefold: Energy demand has been reduced by the economic -recession, by energy conservation measures (such as more fuel-efficient automobiles), and by oil decontrol, which has stabilized and even slightly increased domestic production.m