U.S. OIL DEPENDENCY SEEN RISING TO RECORD LEVEL The United States' dependency on foreign oil sources may reach record levels by the mid-1990s, according to John H. Lichtblau, president of Petroleum Industry Research Associates. Lichtblau, speaking at an alternative energy conference here, said the U.S. may depend on foreign suppliers for as much as 52 pct of its oil by 1995, surpasssing the previous high level of 47 pct in 1977. "The long term growth in dependency on foreign oil is inevitable," Lichtblau said. As much as 30 pct of U.S. oil imports in 1995 could come from OPEC nations, he said. Lichtblau said the U.S. depended on foreign suppliers for 33 pct of its oil in 1986 and predicted that would increase to 40 pct by 1990. "However, the rate of this growth can be affected positively or negatively through government action or inaction," Lichtblau said. He said that one of the government's negative actions is the maintenance of the windfall profits tax which acts as a disincentive to developing existing fields and reduces cash flow for oil exploration. Lichtblau called for the adoption of an international floor price for crude oil to help stabilize world oil prices. "An international floor price adopted by all or most industrial countries would clearly be a much more effective measure and would be much less distortive for the U.S. than if we imposed it alone," Lichtblau said. Development of alternate energy sources such as synthetic fuels as well as increased development in Alaska could lessen U.S. dependency on foreign oil, Lichtblau said. A potential for alternative supplies could limit the willingness of OPEC nations to raise oil prices, he said. Lichtblau also called for the federal government to offer tax abatements for oil drilling, to fill the Strategic Petroleum Reserve at a faster rate and to develop pilot plans for alternative energy.