Total U.S. oil net imports are expected to hit levels this year not seen since the Eisenhower Administration, News Radio 1200 WOAI reports.
The Energy Information Administration says the figures indicate a rapid drop in U.S. oil imports since 2014, thanks to increased domestic production, mainly from the fracking fields of Texas, according to EIA spokesman Jonathan Cogan.
He says in 2017 the U.S. imported about 3.7 million barrels of crude oil per day. The figures from 2018 are expected to be significantly lower.
"We are forecasting a 34% decrease to 2.5 million barrels per day in 2018," he said.
And in 2019, net imports will average about 1 million barrels per day.
That is the lowest figure for net imports into the U.S. since 1958, when the U.S. population was about one half of what it is today.
Cogan also credits increased exports of U.S. oil, after the Obama Administration legalized exports of U.S. crude oil in 2016. Since oil is priced as a global commodity, exporting U.S. crude oil does not raise the price of fuel to consumers.
By contrast, as recently as 2005, the U.S. imported 13 million barrels of crude oil per day, or more than two thirds of our daily consumption, which today is about 19 million barrels per day.
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