For the first time in nearly half a century, the United States of America is the top oil producing country in the world.
According to the Energy Information Administration, American oil companies recently leapfrogged both Saudi Arabia and Russia by producing 11.3 million barrels per day in August. That figure has been rising quickly and the industry recorded a 4-percent jump over July. Rival Russia reportedly produced 11.2 million barrels daily and American ally Saudi Arabia pumped out 10.4 million barrels.
While several states managed to hit record numbers over the summer, Texas accounted for upwards of 40 percent of America’s crude. With outfits pumping oil at breakneck speed, pipeline bottlenecks in Texas and New Mexico are forcing producers to call in more truck and rail transportation to keep pace. The U.S. has a good energy problem on its hands, but it did not come without a fight.
America’s Winning Energy Independence Fight
The OPEC oil cartel and mass oil producer Russia leveraged global pricing against American companies for decades.
By September 2016, OPEC was reportedly two years deep in a price war with the ultimate goal of bankrupting American shale companies. OPEC and accomplice Russia ratcheted up supply to the point that prices were at unprofitable lows. Their intent was to put America in an energy death grip and stop any incursion on their energy dominance.
U.S. output slowed from 2014 to 2016 with the Obama Administration impeding the industry’s ability to cut costs through pipelines and innovation. Ex-Pres. Obama routinely called out energy resources such as oil and coal as climate threats. U.S. oil was under siege from enemies both foreign and domestic. It teetered on falling.
But in 2016, U.S. oil workers responded by developing multi-pad wells and drilled deeper rather than over-invest in speculation. Through innovation and American grit, they stood their ground. Production dipped, fields didn’t expand as they could have, but their resolve kept the country afloat until the oil-friendly Trump Administration tore up the anti-business obstacles holding the industry back.
OPEC and Russia had made a critical mistake. They played a long game expecting left-wing American oil policy to sink the industry. Absorbing national deficits turned out to be OPEC’s Waterloo. OPEC was forced to cut production to turn a profit again in September 2016 and Russia followed suit. But the global rivals could not have anticipated a radical energy policy shift before the 2016 elections.
Production began to rise in the autumn of 2016 and Pres. Donald J. Trump and his administration later unleashed the industry by approving critical pipelines, curbing regulations and opening the door to oil exports. The Trump Administration is currently reviewing the use of government land to house and distribute the oil surplus.
Why Energy Independence Matters
During the first half of the 20th Century, the U.S. was the undisputed world oil leader. But during the 1950s, oil consumption surpassed declining production. This ushered in one of the critical national security lessons with regards to energy.
In 1973, the Organization of Arab Oil Exporting Countries (OAPEC) embargoed oil to the U.S. Basically, this group of militarily and economically inferior countries was able to cripple the U.S. through a single sanction. Just as Pres. Trump throttled North Korea’s nuclear aspirations, OAPEC cut off America’s lifeblood. Although the U.S. eventually shifted its oil primary partners to Canada and Mexico, the nation remained vulnerable to the whims of other countries.
The country’s deficit hit rock bottom in 2011 during the Obama years at $321 billion annually. The record deficit is quickly being erased, and some estimate the U.S. will soon cover its average use of 19.96 barrels of petroleum products daily and enjoy a surplus before 2022. Current production increases are fast exceeding these estimates.
On other energy fronts, the U.S. is gaining energy dominance in natural gas as well. The country is reportedly expected to move up to the fourth largest natural gas exporter by 2020. Poland has reportedly signed a deal with American natural gas outfits that will result in an end to its reliance on Russian imports.
Make no mistake about it, energy is a major national security factor and one that defines which country leads. The United States just became the top oil producer in the world and is close to energy independence and global dominance.
~ Conservative Zone
ENERGY INDEPENDENCE IS AN ECONOMIC & FUNCTIONAL BOON FOR EACH AND EVERY AMERICAN.
IT IS A LOGICAL AND PROPER EXTENSION OF OUR DEFENSE DEPARTMENT
Agree with you. Not being dependant on Russia or the Arab Emirates is great step in the right direction!
Now we need to keep our oil here and stop shipping it to China and other places. At least to the extent that we never have to import oil from Arab’s Iran or Russia!
And, the socialists will want to stop it!
You are correct Catherine. Barry tried, and had Killary won, it would have been worse. When you talk of oil, all liberals see is fuel. They don’t look around at all the thing around them, are made with oil, or some part of it.
THE KEY IN THIS ARTICLE IS: “WE ARE DRILLING DEEPER…” “NOT EXPLORING NEW OIL FIELDS”…OUR “PRE EXPLORED RESERVE OIL FIELDS” ARE STILL “UNTOUCHED…” THE ARTIC, GULF OF MEXICO, PACIFIC, ATLANTIC, AND ALASKIAN OUL RESERVES EXPLORED AND UNEXPLORED ARE STILL IN RESERVE—VAST OIL AND GAS FIELDS THAT ARE IN THE BILLIONS IF NOT TRILLIONS OF BARRELS STILL THERE TO BE PUMPED AND SIPHONED …IF YOU WOULD LOOK AT THE PREHISTORIC INLAND SEAS AND FORESTS OF THE NORTH AMERICAN CONTINENT YOU SEE WHY WE HAVE VAST OIL RESERVES YET TO BE TAPED… RICH IN COAL BECAUSE OF THIS ASSET THAT WAS SO RICH IN FOLIAGE AND ANIMAL LIFE THAT IT CREATED THE BAST OIL RESRVES AND HAS MILLIONS OF YEARS AGO…IT HAS ALWAYS BEEN THE LONG TERM STRADEGY CREATED SINCE 1948 WHEN OIL WAS DISCOVERED IN LIBIA AND SAUDI ARABIA WH N LOOKING AND DRILLING FOR WATER TO “USE THEIR RESERVES FIRST AND “HUSBAN” OUR OWN RESERVES…NOW WE CAN TAPE THOSE RESERVES AND MAINTAIN OUR CRITICAL STRATEGIC ENERGY INDEPENDENCE AND SECURITY…WE CAN IN TIME PAY DOWN OUR 21.5 TRILLIONS IN DEBT WITH PETRO DOLLARS…WE WILL SEE..
Oil is not a standard commodity. Instead, it is priced relative to a standard commodity mix that rarely exists in crude oil called “light sweet crude.” If it contains crude usable for gasoline, it is called “light.” If it lacks contaminates like sulfur, it is called “sweet.” Brent crude, except for Libyan crude, contains contaminants. US shale oil is light sweet crude mixed with petroleum gases like methane, ethane, propane and butane. Canadian crude comes from tar sands. It must be fractured by catalysts to make it suitable for use in engines like automobiles, trucks, locomotives and aircraft.
Refinery output matches demand for a variety of products that include asphalt for roads, paraffin for candles and chocolate bars, lubricants, solvents, jet fuel and gasoline. They order in crude from several sources, both foreign and domestic to optimize their product mix with the least amount of refinery expense. We may be a net exporter, but also an importer of crude to meet all of our petroleum needs.