Wise words on energy independence cites this ironic passage from Gideonsblog:
[I]f we increased fuel economy in modest ways, we could stop buying oil from the Persian Gulf. But we wouldn’t stop buying oil from the Persian Gulf. We might even buy a greater percentage from there if we were more efficient — because if we consumed less oil, then the law of supply and demand should drive oil prices down, which in turn would mean a greater market share for the lowest-cost producer, which is Saudi Arabia. This is exactly what happened from the mid-1980s through the early 2000s: a collapse in oil prices led to greater demand on Persian Gulf oil specifically as more costly sources of supply stopped producing.