If it turns out that we did, the single largest factor in that will be that oil and natural gas production have yet to return back to pre-Covid-19 levels. Those wishing to credit President Trump for this need to take another look at that net imports graphic to grasp the full picture.īut we don’t actually know if, once the full year of 2021 has been accounted for, we lost our energy independence for the year. So, in 2009 we began the march to energy independence. petroleum demand in March and April 2020 as a result of the response to the Covid-19 pandemic led to a decrease in U.S. crude oil production declined to about 11.31 million barrels per day in 2020. ![]() More cost-effective drilling and production technologies helped to drive the production increases, especially in Texas and North Dakota. ![]() crude oil production reached a record high of 12.25 million barrels per day. In 2009, the trend reversed and production began to rise, and in 2019, U.S. “Annual crude oil production generally decreased between 19. So, our energy independence was shrinking as the pandemic unfolded. energy production declined by 5% in 2020, energy consumption also declined by 3% as the pandemic impacted the economy. energy consumption in 20, and determined that for both full years, counting all energy sources, we were energy independent. The Energy Information Administration (EIA) tabulated U.S. By 2019, we were exporting 3 million BPD of crude oil. That stipulation - which was a trade-off for getting some renewable energy provisions - helped extend the fracking boom. This comprehensive energy bill that President Obama signed helped open up new markets for domestic oil producers, who had suffered from depressed prices due to their inability to export their oil. oil prices, which benefitted refiners but not oil producers. To that point, finished products like diesel and gasoline could be exported, but not crude oil. One stipulation in that bill allowed domestic producers to export their oil. However, one thing President Obama did that helped oil production continue to expand under President Trump was in the energy bill he signed in late 2015. Their policies weren’t responsible for the underlying plunge in our crude oil imports, which is the primary factor in our march to energy independence. To be clear, I am not giving credit (or blame) here to President Obama or President Trump. In May 2020, we had flipped back to a net oil importer, and we have oscillated since. The energy independence that we gained in 2019, was lost in the second half of 2020 as energy production plunged, but energy demand recovered. The Covid-19 pandemic disrupted the trend. Note near the end of the chart above that we started oscillating back and forth between a net importer and a net exporter. US Net Imports of Crude Oil and Petroleum Products Energy Information Administration ![]() All President Trump (and President Obama before him) had to do was avoid driving the bus into the ditch, and they would continue to benefit from the hydraulic fracking boom that enabled all of this. Most of that march to energy independence happened under President Obama. It is also true that Donald Trump was president when this happened for the first time in October 2019.īut note that this was the culmination of a trend that started in 2006 when U.S. By that metric, we became energy independent (at last as far as our oil consumption goes). It is true that in 2019 our net imports of crude oil and finished products flipped from positive to negative. (In reality, we are always partially dependent, because even when our exports exceed our imports, we are still importing oil from other countries). When they see our net exports are positive, it is viewed as “energy independence.” When they turn negative, we are once again partially dependent. Most people view energy independence through the lens of our oil and gas production and consumption. Why do I say “net”? Because if we import a million barrels per day of oil, and export that as roughly a million barrels per day of finished products, it doesn’t actually impact our energy independence - even though it increases our gross overall consumption.
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