Imports, in the form of petroleum, petroleum products, and natural gas account for 20 percent of the total domestic energy consumption, at an annual cost of over $25 billion in 1974. This heavy reliance on imported energy has serious national security implications. Dependence on imports makes the United States vulnerable to undesirable external influences on U.S. foreign and domestic policy. Foreign powers can threaten life styles and economic stability by curtailing the supply of petroleum or effecting arbitrary and sudden price changes. The quadrupling of the world price of petroleum in the past two years has disrupted the U.S. economy and the economies of all other importing nations