Is independence on foreign oil really so important? If I think of this in the micro-economic sense, the ERD household is dependent on all sorts of 'foreign' (to our household) resources. We are not self-sufficient. We trade our resources ($ and/or labor) for other resources, many of which we could not do without. Yet, this does not seem like a problem at all, and it has been sustainable for as long as I've been alive, and I don't see an end to it, nor do I desire an end to it (I don't plan on learning how to do my own surgery, or build a car myself).
In fact (I think samclem has pointed this out before) , getting these resources at the lowest cost to us is exactly what we should do. Foreign oil must be cheaper than domestic oil, so why not buy it from the cheaper sources? It's the same make/buy decision I make with every single purchase (grow my own food, buy it?, etc).
And to be consistent, I'm against subsidies. So yes, oil needs to stand on its own for this to be meaningful. Let the oil companies buy their own protection, if that is what it takes to deliver 'foreign' oil.
-ERD50