SoylentNews

The U.S. Just Became a Net Oil Exporter for the First Time in 75 Years

posted by takyon on Sunday December 09 2018, @09:35PM   
from the pump-and-dump dept.

martyb writes:

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.

---

Original Submission

• Re:16 degress Re:16 degress (Score: 1) by khallow on Monday December 10 2018, @03:25PM (1 child)

  by khallow (3766) on Monday December 10 2018, @03:25PM (#772389) Journal

  A thousand years in relation to the evolution of our species, is not a long time.

  It's only longer than the few million years to date. Evolution is relative. We're evolving (not just in a genetic sense) at a vastly faster rate than we ever have.

  But it doesn't really matter. You don't have to suffocate mankind, just the fish. Which is what happens when water temperatures rise and oceans are unable to hold oxygen. And it isn't just CO2, it is also the sulfur dioxide from all the anerobic bacteria that is munching on the massive swaths of dead things in the ocean. The way the oil got there the last time, will be the way it gets there the next time.

  You already stated how much that has to happen.

  "This is the best it's ever been for humanity"
  
  As I said, longer cycles. Maybe it is. But is of no consequence since it is the mean of the overall cycle that matters.

  Longer cycles don't matter. My view is that we'll have solved this problem when it actually becomes a problem.

  In an economic bubble the falling slopes are steeper than the rising slopes. What you're saying is that people who are suffering less resources per capita than we have now, will be more able to address the problem.

  Completely irrelevant. And not actually true - for example, the latest Bitcoin burst has a shallow slope on its decline than it did on the rise.

  This is a conservation of energy problem. There is no technology that is going to change the laws of physics. More to the point, you're ignoring the rollout time for workable solutions. When you're talking about environmental engineering, the solutions that most leverage biology (the cheapest) have the longest rollout times. And that isn't taking into account that dwindling resources generally cause wars, which accelerates the rate of decline.

  Again completely irrelevant since Earth is an open system. No law of physics states that a) we need to continue to use fossil fuels to be point of extinction, or b) that subsequent generations will be dumber than rocks and require us to do all the thinking for them. Nor do those laws of physics prevent the sun from shining for a billion more years.

  IOW, you can't build long term solutions if you don't have a long term.

  My point exactly. You're thinking short term, worrying about the latest environmental fad. OTOH, I've been proposing long term solutions all along. Let us keep in mind that there's a lot more than one single problem in the world, and as a result climate change is pretty far down the list of problems humanity faces. Where in your thought process is room for poverty, overpopulation, corruption, habitat destruction, resource mismanagement, and war.
  
  Sure, if we had a magic wand and could automatically fix CO2 levels at a given level without cost, then sure, that would probably help all those bigger problems. But the real world isn't like that. While there are some low-lying fruit, as a whole climate change mitigation has ended up being costly and ineffective with remarkably little thought given to the consequences and little progress to show for it. Actually think about the future sometime.

  And you're not going to be aware that you only have a short term, until you are past the point of no return.

  This is a typical scam line. You're projecting well down the road, and then claiming that we won't see the end coming until "it's too late". It rushes the mark into making foolish decisions. My view is that you need to show evidence for your claims. If you can't, tough. I'm not going to squander the future of humanity, just because there are Chicken Littles in the audience.

  Parent

• Re:16 degress (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 11 2018, @07:50AM

  by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 11 2018, @07:50AM (#772791)

  omg a long break-down post... now we are really getting somewhere people. revolution in teh brewing, i tell ya

  Parent