A groundbreaking development in the U.S. energy industry, powered by Texas shale oil production. 1200 WOAI news reports that for the first time since the 1940s, the U.S. last week exported more oil than we imported.
Analysts don't expect that amazing turnabout to continue regularly, but as Texas shale production continues to grow, the trend will continue, further marginalizing the once powerful OPEC cartel, and maintaining lower gas prices for motorists.
According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, the United States last week imported a mere 1.4 million barrels of crude oil per day. Compare that to 2004, when we routinely imported 14 million barrels per day.
At the same time last week, the U.S. exported about 1.6 million barrels, for a net positive export balance of 211,000 barrels.
This is the second major landmark which has been met in 2018.
Earlier this year, the U.S. officially became the largest producer of oil in the world, muscling out both Saudi Arabia and Russia for the top spot.
The next benchmark, which is within reach, is for the U.S. to become the world's largest oil exporter, and last week's events show that goal is within reach, achieving the 'energy independence' which Presidents since Richard Nixon have been hoping for.
Currently, the U.S. produces about 14 million barrels per day and consumes about 19 million barrels.This news comes amid another major development in domestic oil production.
The U.S. Geologic Survey has confirmed the existence of the 'largest continuous oil and gas resource ever,' and some of it is in Texas.
Bruce Bullock, who heads the McGuire Energy Institute at SMU, tells News Radio 1200 WOAI's Michael Board the reserve, called the Delaware Basin, is west of the Permian Basin in West Texas and New Mexico.
"We are already drilling in those areas," he said. "What USGS did was up their estmates of how much oil is actually there, and that is always good news."
The USGS says there are enough recoverable oil and gas reserves in the Delaware to keep production at current levels going for another forty years
."It seems like every ten or fifteen years people seem to start writing off the Permian Basin," Bullock said, referring to the now discredited concept of 'peak oil' which was popular in the mid 2000s, before the development of horizontal fracking technology."
This announcement shows that we are usually wrong to do that."
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