America turned into a net oil exporter last week, breaking 75 years of continued dependence on foreign oil and marking a pivotal moment toward what President Trump has branded "energy independence."
The shift to net exports is the dramatic result of an unprecedented boom in American oil production, with thousands of wells pumping from the Permian region of Texas and New Mexico to the Bakken in North Dakota to the Marcellus in Pennsylvania.
U.S. crude shipments reached a record 3.2 million barrels last week.
The shale revolution has transformed oil wildcatters into billionaires and the U.S. into the world’s largest petroleum producer, surpassing Russia and Saudi Arabia.
The power of OPEC has been diminished, undercutting one of the major geopolitical forces of the last half century. The cartel and its allies are meeting in Vienna this week, trying to make a tough choice to cut output and support prices, risking the loss of more market share to the U.S.
“We are becoming the dominant energy power in the world,” said Michael Lynch, president of Strategic Energy & Economic Research.
"Trump is making America great again," said Joe McMonigle, an oil analyst at Hedgeye Risk Management LLC and a former senior official at the U.S. Energy Department. "First president in modern time to get America to be energy independent."
Oil historians that have compiled annual data using statistics from the American Petroleum Institute showing the country had been a net oil importer since 1949, when DEMOCRAT Harry Truman was in the White House.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-12-06/u-s-becomes-a-net-oil-exporter-for-the-first-time-in-75-years
