U.S. is net oil exporter for first time in over 70 years

[PlanetJosh]

There's some politics in this, not just a regular news story. It's fine for the economy that we are a net oil exporter and I'm surprised that it happened in my lifetime. But will it be ok for the economy and our lives in the long run if the ecological issues in fracking get worse? The release of harmful chemicals and substances in the fracking process and so on. Well this topic may not be a prominent thing in the forum, more of a slow burn waiting for years to break out.

Edit - It's the first full month of net oil exports since back then. So the right source is just below:

US Has First Full Month as Net Oil Exporter for First Time in 70 Years

www.theepochtimes.com

And the source below is from last year posted by mistake earlier, sorry.

U.S. is a net oil exporter for first time in 75 years

America turned into a net oil exporter last week, breaking 75 years of continued dependence on foreign oil and marking a pivotal — even if likely brief —moment toward what U.S. President Donald...

apnews.com

Just call this a fracking thread then.

 

[dank69]

That is from last year.

 

[PlanetJosh]

Oh damn, I'll find the right article, just a minute.

Ok fixed the OP source. The first full month of net oil exports since way back in the 40's. Not really sure of the significance of it. Oh well this could be another fracking thread for now.

 

[fskimospy]

I've never been quite sure why whether or not we are a net exporter of oil or really any type of energy is particularly meaningful as they are global commodities. Unless you're talking about the government seizing control of our oil production facilities the price America pays for energy will be the global price.

 

[dank69]

I've never been quite sure why whether or not we are a net exporter of oil or really any type of energy is particularly meaningful as they are global commodities. Unless you're talking about the government seizing control of our oil production facilities the price America pays for energy will be the global price.

It negates all crimes committed by Trump because this is obviously a result of his big brain.

 

[soundforbjt]

I've never been quite sure why whether or not we are a net exporter of oil or really any type of energy is particularly meaningful as they are global commodities. Unless you're talking about the government seizing control of our oil production facilities the price America pays for energy will be the global price.

Especially something that is a finite source like oil. Shouldn't we be keeping it for ourselves?

 

[IronWing]

Especially something that is a finite source like oil. Shouldn't we be keeping it for ourselves?

We should be using the crap out of it. Every drop of oil we don't use is one more drop for the <insert those people of your choice here> to use. The oil will be used until the energy cost of extracting it minus the subsidies exceeds the energy value gained. The only variable is who gets to use it. Conserving makes us weaker and others stronger.





Man, when did I get so jaded?

 

[MixMasterTang]

Honestly I think it was better when we were not a net positive exporter and left our natural resources in the ground. That way we let all of the other countries pump out their oil and we could just sit on top of our reserves until they were absolutely needed.

 

[interchange]

I've never been quite sure why whether or not we are a net exporter of oil or really any type of energy is particularly meaningful as they are global commodities. Unless you're talking about the government seizing control of our oil production facilities the price America pays for energy will be the global price.

This is something I'm curious about. There aren't a whole lot of exporters for our demand, and production capacity in short time frames matters should OPEC for example decide to hike up prices. In this sense, having significant domestic production keeps prices competitive. There is environmental cost, of course, and we face refinement and pipeline barriers here. Thinking more globally, one way to look at it previously was that we were dependent on OPEC. Another way was that they were dependent on us. The Sauds have oil and not much else. We saw how Venezuela has crumbled with their economy being tied to oil. Personally, I think it's more important that we have significant reserves and production capacity to restore the reserves if we ever have to employ them. Basically a buffer against OPEC and enough ongoing production and infrastructure to keep that in tact.

 

[fskimospy]

This is something I'm curious about. There aren't a whole lot of exporters for our demand, and production capacity in short time frames matters should OPEC for example decide to hike up prices. In this sense, having significant domestic production keeps prices competitive. There is environmental cost, of course, and we face refinement and pipeline barriers here. Thinking more globally, one way to look at it previously was that we were dependent on OPEC. Another way was that they were dependent on us. The Sauds have oil and not much else. We saw how Venezuela has crumbled with their economy being tied to oil. Personally, I think it's more important that we have significant reserves and production capacity to restore the reserves if we ever have to employ them. Basically a buffer against OPEC and enough ongoing production and infrastructure to keep that in tact.

OPEC has not been able to meaningfully control oil prices or who gets what oil for quite awhile now. What they decide to do is largely irrelevant.

Opec is not the power broker it once was

The old methods of controlling prices by restricting production no longer work

www.ft.com

 

[interchange]

OPEC has not been able to meaningfully control oil prices or who gets what oil for quite awhile now. What they decide to do is largely irrelevant.

Opec is not the power broker it once was

The old methods of controlling prices by restricting production no longer work

www.ft.com

The point is to what extent does that reflect US increase in oil production since the hypothetical I am proposing is less production but enough capacity. Are you suggesting if we stopped production, there is enough oil from other producers on the market to stop OPEC from artificially hiking prices?

 

[ivwshane]

In theory this should be a good thing as developing countries should have a more stable source of energy as compared to Russia, Venezuela, or similar countries. That assumes we have some sort of trade agreement in place that benefits and protects both parties.

 

[fskimospy]

The point is to what extent does that reflect US increase in oil production since the hypothetical I am proposing is less production but enough capacity. Are you suggesting if we stopped production, there is enough oil from other producers on the market to stop OPEC from artificially hiking prices?

I’m not saying if the US stopped production entirely that would be a good thing, just that we are long past the point at which OPEC could manipulate prices that way and gains beyond that are pretty dubious.

 

[zinfamous]

We should be using the crap out of it. Every drop of oil we don't use is one more drop for the <insert those people of your choice here> to use. The oil will be used until the energy cost of extracting it minus the subsidies exceeds the energy value gained. The only variable is who gets to use it. Conserving makes us weaker and others stronger.





Man, when did I get so jaded?

April 21, 1988.

 

[Jaskalas]

There's some politics in this, not just a regular news story. It's fine for the economy that we are a net oil exporter and I'm surprised that it happened in my lifetime. But will it be ok for the economy and our lives in the long run if the ecological issues in fracking get worse? The release of harmful chemicals and substances in the fracking process and so on. Well this topic may not be a prominent thing in the forum, more of a slow burn waiting for years to break out.

Poison our water and imports millions of people a year. What could go wrong?

 

[interchange]

I’m not saying if the US stopped production entirely that would be a good thing, just that we are long past the point at which OPEC could manipulate prices that way and gains beyond that are pretty dubious.

Right. Energy independence is about getting to that point, which has already been accomplished. It's not about production. It's about capacity. I think producing so much, in addition to environmental costs, decreases the leverage we have by being strong players on the market. Many countries depended so much more on our demand. That's a strong amount of influence when we have the capacity to look elsewhere if needed. Alternatively, being an exporter gives us a different kind of competitive leverage. However, there's no way in hell we're going to out-compete the Saudi's. We can keep market pressure going to keep prices down, but that's about it.