The US exports a great deal of oil.
About 7% of crude oil production from the Alaska North Slope (ANS) is currently exported to South Korea, Japan, and China.
Much ANS crude reached California, which is the nation's third-largest oil producer. During the mid-1990s, California produced 800,000 barrels per day (bd), an amount supplemented by another 100,000 bd from the federal Outer Continental Shelf (OCS). The combination of California's indigenous production, ANS crude, and foreign oil imports resulted in a California oil surplus. The local glut, which depressed prices for both California and ANS producers, necessitated the shipment of about 300,000 bd of crude through the Panama Canal to the U.S. Gulf Coast and U.S. Virgin Islands.
ANS exports totaling 36,000 bd began in 1996; they grew to 66,500 bd in 1997, dipped slightly to 52,900 in 1998 and rose to a high of 74,000 bd in 1999. According to unpublished DOE figures, during 1999, Korea (50%), Japan (36%) and China (12%) imported nearly all ANS exports. The list of customers has remained the same since 1996.
source:
http://www.cnie.org/NLE/CRSreports/natural/nrgen-25.cfm
The story spoken about above:
http://www.azcentral.com/news/reuter...NORTH-DC.shtml
More info:
http://www.alaskawild.org/background...l_exports.html 
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