U.S. demand for foreign oil drops

WASHINGTON, May 20 (UPI) -- Foreign oil imports fell in the United States in the first quarter of 2008, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said.

Foreign imports fell to 57.9 percent of the country's consumption, down from 58.2 percent a year ago.

The trend is pushed by high oil prices, biofuel production mandates and improved fuel efficiency in cars, the Financial Times reported Tuesday.

Increased demand in emerging markets has kept oil prices high in spite of a decline in the United States, the report said.

But the decline "shows that markets do work, policy changes do work, technology does work," Guy Caruso, head of the EIA, said

It is the first time since 1977 that the United States cut down significantly on foreign oil dependence, the Times reported.

The EIA expects the trend to continue, predicting foreign oil use to fall to 50 percent by 2015, the report said.