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The U.S. Just Became a Net Oil Exporter for the First Time in 75 Years:
America turned into a net oil exporter last week, breaking almost 75 years of continued dependence on foreign oil and marking a pivotal -- even if likely brief -- moment toward what U.S. President Donald Trump has branded as "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.
While the country has been heading in that direction for years, this week's dramatic shift came as data showed a sharp drop in imports and a jump in exports to a record high. Given the volatility in weekly data, the U.S. will likely remain a small net importer most of the time.
"We are becoming the dominant energy power in the world," said Michael Lynch, president of Strategic Energy & Economic Research. "But, because the change is gradual over time, I don't think it's going to cause a huge revolution, but you do have to think that OPEC is going to have to take that into account when they think about cutting."
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.
I can see short-term benefits (avoiding another 1973 Oil Crisis), but am concerned about the long-term strategy. Given a fixed supply of oil, isn't the US just racing to deplete its resources and therefore setting itself up for a later "oil crisis"? The only hope I see is a huge and continued emphasis in transitioning to alternative energy sources (be it solar, wind, and/or nuclear) and thus ween itself from dependence on foreign supplies.
(Score: 4, Informative) by legont on Sunday December 09 2018, @10:21PM (10 children)
Oil will still be needed for many applications; plastic and fertilizers come to mind first.
"Wealth is the relentless enemy of understanding" - John Kenneth Galbraith.
(Score: 4, Informative) by The Mighty Buzzard on Sunday December 09 2018, @10:54PM (3 children)
Oils for plastics and such don't necessarily need to come from dead dinosaurs. That just happens to be an already available and relatively inexpensive source.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 2) by legont on Sunday December 09 2018, @11:27PM (2 children)
Perhaps, but I wonder if it will be more environment friendly. So far any alternative to oil is either questionable or outright more dangerous than oil.
I am also very suspicious about the strategy. See, an honest way would be to implement better than oil alternatives and only then remove oil from the picture. But it is not the strategy. They are trying to prohibit oil or make it more expensive using taxes and promise that alternatives will come and will be better. I call it BS, sorry.
Note that it's everywhere. Old ways don't die because they are worse but because they are legislated out of existence. Perhaps it is good. If so we got to be honest at least to ourselves, but people prefer propaganda.
"Wealth is the relentless enemy of understanding" - John Kenneth Galbraith.
(Score: 3, Funny) by The Mighty Buzzard on Monday December 10 2018, @03:38AM (1 child)
Nah, there are plenty of oils produced as byproducts of agriculture that could serve a new purpose. It's not like we're going to cut back on raising food any time soon. If all else fails, there's always mandatory liposuction for the obese. Better health and raw materials with one stone!
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 2) by bob_super on Monday December 10 2018, @05:54PM
If it's a one-time thing, carving is more efficient than liposuction.
If you want to make it a permanent resource, we need to invent an implantable faucet system to simplify logistics.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by takyon on Sunday December 09 2018, @11:18PM (5 children)
I think we should be making a lot of plastics from plant material. Fertilizers are made from methane [forbes.com], and not oil.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2) by legont on Sunday December 09 2018, @11:32PM (3 children)
I assumed that when people say oil what they really mean is hydrocarbons from fossils. BTW, even the last part - fossils - is controversial.
"Wealth is the relentless enemy of understanding" - John Kenneth Galbraith.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Zinho on Monday December 10 2018, @08:40AM (2 children)
What's the controversy? No one is claiming that we're pumping oil out of dinosaur-shaped holes in the ground. The best theory about the fuel's origin is that it was produced by the microorganisms that are invariably found in source rock. Yes, microbes left behind fossils, and they can be easily identified in rock cuttings under a microscope. All that's beside the actual point; the fuel itself is the fossil. Regardless of what made it, the fuel itself is the geologic evidence of the process that created it.
fossil [merriam-webster.com]
fos·sil | \ˈfä-səl
adjective
1 : preserved from a past geologic age
//fossil plants
//fossil water in an underground reservoir
noun
1 : a remnant, impression, or trace of an organism of past geologic ages that has been preserved in the earth's crust
Unless you're somehow arguing that fossil fuel isn't preserved from a past geologic age I'm not seeing where there's room for controversy here.
"Space Exploration is not endless circles in low earth orbit." -Buzz Aldrin
(Score: 1) by khallow on Monday December 10 2018, @07:37PM (1 child)
(Score: 2) by legont on Monday December 10 2018, @10:53PM
This just came out today https://phys.org/news/2018-12-life-deep-earth-totals-billion.html [phys.org]
15 to 23 billion tons of living carbon in deep earth. The bugs have life span in millions of years, very diverse, but persist everywhere.
"Wealth is the relentless enemy of understanding" - John Kenneth Galbraith.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday December 10 2018, @05:47PM
Worth noting that pretty much any hydrocarbon chain you care to name can be created starting with syngas as the base building block (ie, methane). The cost gets pretty obscene the longer and more exotic the chain you're trying to make, but it can be done. When the oil is gone, we'll pay that cost or do without. Really is that simple.